


In The Grip Of Depression

by JustAnAnxiousMess



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst and Tragedy, Blood and Torture, Blood and Violence, Deceit except his name is Jacob because the name reveal happened after I'd written most of this, Depression, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Major Character Injury, Original Character(s), Past Abuse, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:56:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 47
Words: 105,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26991019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAnAnxiousMess/pseuds/JustAnAnxiousMess
Summary: Virgils feelings of loneliness and being an outcast, attracts attention from a sadistic being who goes by the name of Preston.Things take a turn for the worst as it is revealed that this isn't the first time Preston has cropped up and each of the sides must face different struggles.Trigger Warnings: This will be an incredibly dark story full of triggers so readers are advised to be careful.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	1. The First Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter contains mentions of suicide/suicide attempts, self harm, torture, alcohol abuse, violence, very strong language, manipulation and mentions of blood

Anxiety sat in his room working on his breathing. There was an enormous storm happening at the moment and while he enjoyed the lightning, the thunder sent him into panic attacks. Another loud crash of thunder and he let out a choked sob. He knew that Thomas was probably also effected but he had the others to comfort him. No one knew or cared that Anxiety suffered just as bad if not worse.

“I can do this, it’s just like all the other times.” he said to himself in a shaky voice. Except it wasn’t quite like the other times because he’d had to endure insult after insult thrown at him all day and as the next clap of thunder sounded, Anxiety broke down.  
He could barely breathe and hysterical sobs shook his body as he curled up into a ball on the floor. Everything had crashed down on top of him and he felt useless, if he couldn’t control himself then how could he possibly hope to help Thomas?

Feelings of unworthiness and self-hatred began to flood his mind and he let out a howl of misery as he began to feel hollow and empty. What was the point of trying? Everything he did seemed to make everything worse so maybe he should just stop trying.

His thoughts drifted to the other sides. Would they agree with him? They probably wouldn’t care, they always tried to avoid him so if he just stopped coming out of his room surely it would just make everything easier for them?  
He gasped for breath and felt a small flicker of anger. They obviously would prefer if he didn’t exist, seeing as they’d never once called for him voluntarily or even bothered to ask his real name. He knew theirs but it seemed they assumed he didn’t have one or they didn’t care.

“you alright there?” came a low voice from behind him, making him jump and spin round in terror.

“who…?” he managed to gasp out before he was cut off by his own inability to breathe.

“I’m… A friend. You seem to be struggling and I’m here to help” the mysterious voice said.

Anxiety was usually incredibly suspicious of everyone but for some reason he felt he could trust this person, whoever they were. Unable to get words out he nodded slowly and the stranger shifted into view.

He was completely stunned as he took in the guy in front of him. He looked very similar to him but didn’t have the dark bags under his eyes and his eyes were a lot darker. Where he and the other sides had the same Hazel eyes as Thomas, this guy had dark brown eyes that were almost black. Although it should have put him on edge he instead felt calmer and more relaxed.

“do you want a hug?” asked the nameless stranger, opening his arms.

Anxiety tried to shake his head, he hated contact of all kinds, but found himself nodding. That was the first hint that something wasn’t right.

The figure smiled and embraced him which made his body instantly relax and he found himself slumped into the stranger. It felt amazing. That should have been the second hint.

“there were go, I’ve got you now so you’re going to be fine.” the stranger said, running his hands through Anxietys hair. Anxiety closed his eyes, not worrying about being in such a vulnerable position and that should have been the third and final hint that there was something horribly wrong with the situation.

“there we go, now you’re mine.” the stranger said with a smirk, that went unnoticed by Anxiety. “my name is… Preston.” he said in Anxietys ear, making him shudder slightly. “what… What’s your main job?” Anxiety managed to ask, laying on his back across Prestons lap with his eyes closed. “my main job is similar to yours in a way but I’d rather not talk about such boring topics.” he said, carefully dodging the question. Anxiety hummed in agreement as he began to fall asleep, not seeing the devilish grin on Prestons face. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thomas was having a really bad day and then came the thunderstorm. The first crash of thunder made him jump and he fell off the sofa, hurting his back. He lay there feeling winded for a few seconds and then the second crash of thunder made him jump again except this time he began to gasp for breath.

“help” he managed to gasp as he started to have a panic attack. Immediately Patton, Roman and Logan appeared ready to help him through his attack.

“its gonna be OK kiddo, we’re all here to help.” Patton said resting a hand Thomas’s shoulder.

“let’s try to do that breathing exercise we researched for a moment just like this.” Logan said sitting in front of Thomas and instructing him to copy his breathing.

Roman watched and felt a slight twinge of anger towards Anxiety who hadn’t turned up to help. Of course that wasn’t new but he’d been giving Thomas a really hard time today, the least he could do was ease up and try to help them calm him down. Eventually they managed to calm Thomas down and made him put on some headphones and watch something to block out the sound of the storm.

“I’ve really had enough of Anxietys behaviour now!” Roman exclaimed as the other two eventually came over to him. “today has been one disaster after another all thanks to him and now he’s causing Thomas to have another panic attack, he’s gone too far.” he looked at Patton who seemed to be conflicted between agreeing and disagreeing. Logan seemed to be lost in thought.

“maybe we can give him another chance?” Patton said with a hopeful voice, not wanting any kind of confrontation.

Roman shook his head and said “No, if we keep giving him more chances then we’re never going to make him stop hurting Thomas.”

Logan nodded, showing his agreement and Patton sighed sadly before reluctantly agreeing to join them in confronting Anxiety.

They left Thomas with his headphones on and travelled back into the mind space. Roman immediately set off down the hall towards Anxietys room but as he tried to open the door he found it locked.

“that’s strange, our doors aren’t supposed to be able to lock.” stated Logan with a frown. Roman had started to get red in the face and contemplated kicking the door down when Patton pushed past both of them and put his ear to the door.

“I can’t hear anything.” Patton whispered to the other two who glanced at each other in confusion and walked back to the lounge area to talk. “you sure Patton?” Roman asked.

“definitely, it was completely silent.” Patton replied. Logan frowned as he thought things over. He was pretty sure Anxiety was in there but he was rather concerned how he’d managed to lock the door. Unless he didn’t voluntarily lock it? But what else could have locked it and why would Anxiety not have made a sound when he heard them outside the door. He could have called for help or something. Logan was pulled from his thoughts when a loud crash of thunder echoed around the room. The other two were staring at him expectantly.

“what?” he asked in confusion.

“what were you so lost in thought about?” Patton asked with a small smile, flinching slightly at another crash of thunder.

Before Logan could answer a loud crash came from somewhere nearby followed by a scream.  
“that didn’t sound like thunder…” Patton said, his eyes wide.  
“you’re right and I doubt that scream was Thomas, he seems fine still.” Logan said glancing at Roman who seems to have come to the same conclusion.  
“that just leaves Anxiety.” he whispered.

In seconds all three of them were outside his door where they could hear him screaming. They could just about make out words.

“stop! Leave me alone! Please! I’ll do it!” his voice was panicked and full of pain.

Roman banged on the door. “Anxiety? What’s going on? Are you alright?” he demanded.

Everything went silent broken only by a small muffled sob from behind Anxietys door. “I’m fine, nothing happened.” he replied in a dull voice.

Patton felt his jaw drop. If he hadn’t heard the screaming or small sob he would have believed him. His voice was so convincing.

“why were you screaming?” Roman asked, trying a different way.

“I was practising. I assumed the thunder would block it out, I didn’t expect you to hear.” came the dull voice again, not a hint of pain or panic in his voice.

Roman frowned and glanced at Logan who seemed at a loss for words. “are you sure you’re OK?” Roman asked one last time.

“yes I’m fine Princey, go watch one of those damned Disney movies or something and stop bothering me.” came the snarky reply.

The three of them reluctantly went back into the lounge. “he sounded genuinely hurt but then he sounded genuinely annoyed. I don’t understand.” Patton said softly.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anxiety awoke with a scream as a sharp stabbing pain filled his left arm. He looked up and saw Preston holding a shard of glass that was plunged into his arm.

“ wakey wakey freak.” Preston growled with a smirk.“ Anxiety inhaled, choking on a sob before screaming out in pain again.

"you’re going to do whatever I tell you or I’ll keep doing this.” Preston whispered in Anxietys ear, pressing further down, causing the blood to pool around them.

“stop! Leave me alone! Please! I’ll do it!” Anxiety shrieked desperately and Preston pulled the shard out of his arm with a smug smile.

Suddenly there was someone pounding on the door and Preston cursed under his breath.

“don’t get any funny ideas.” he growled to Anxiety, holding the blood covered shard to Anxietys neck to stop him attempting to call for help.

“Anxiety? what’s going on? Are you alright?” came Romans voice.

Anxiety let out a small sob which Preston tried to muffle with his blood covered hand.

“I’m fine, nothing happened.” Preston said loudly, doing his best impression of Anxietys voice.

“why were you screaming?” Roman asked, a hint of confusion and suspicion in his voice.

Preston admitted to himself that waking Anxiety by stabbing him in the arm was probably not the smartest idea he’d had but it had the desired effect of showing he would follow through with his threats and causing Anxiety pain which had been fun.

Preston thought on the spot and managed to think up an almost believable reason. “I was practicing. I assumed the thunder would block it out, I didn’t expect you to hear.” he kept his voice dull, so as to sound more like Anxiety.

“are you sure you’re OK?” Roman replied.

Preston had to bite back his anger and instead construct something Anxiety would say. “yes I’m fine Princey, go watch one of those damned Disney movies or something and stop bothering me.” he said in an annoyed voice.

He heard footsteps retreating down the corridor and turned back to Anxiety. “now where were we?” he asked with a sinister grin. “oh yes, I remember now. You were just about to do whatever I say.”

Anxiety shuddered but with the position he was in and the amount of blood he had lost and still was losing, he could do nothing but comply to the sadistic wishes of this maniac.

“now let me formally introduce myself. My name is Preston but most people know me as Depression.” Preston gave an evil chuckle as Anxietys face morphed into one of horror and fear. “oh yeah, look what you’ve done to poor precious Thomas now. You’re supposed to be the one protecting him from danger and you immediately gave up and let me in. Now you’re powerless to stop me from destroying him.” Prestons eyes had a crazed greedy glint in them and Anxietys mind was racing, trying to figure out a way to prevent Thomas or the others getting hurt.

“how about we make a deal?” Anxiety asked timidly.

Preston laughed but gestured for him to continue.

“how about you leave Thomas and the others alone but you can do whatever you want to me?” Anxiety knew that he’d be put through hell and back and it’d be a miracle if he survived but it was his job to protect Thomas and he couldn’t stand the thought of Preston hurting him or the others.

Preston considered this. Did he try and take over Thomas’s mind by fighting and attempting to break all of his sides or did he just settle for one of the sides who would be cooperative to some extent? It would mean less work for him and probably more fun to watch the faces of the others as Anxiety eventually destroyed himself. In the long run Anxietys deal would cause Thomas more trouble than Preston himself could cause.

Having made his decision Preston smirked and held out his right hand. “OK, I accept. Let’s shake on it.” he held back a sadistic smile as Anxiety realised he would have to use his injured, still bleeding arm to shake his hand.

“o..OK. Now what?” Anxiety asked fearfully.

Preston smirked and replied “now I disappear for a bit until I want to do something to you. Also my first order is that you’re forbidden to mention me or what happened in this room tonight and that includes all the nights to follow.”

Anxiety nodded and waited until Preston vanished before dashing towards his personal bathroom so he could patch up his arm. He stripped off his hoodie and long sleeved t-shirt to get a better look at the damage.

He cringed as he saw his ruined arm but was glad that he knew some basic first aid so he could stitch it up. He had a feeling that this would become a regular occurrence so he made a note to grab a couple first aid books when he got the chance. At the moment though he settled for stitching up the wound on his left arm, biting down on the ruined sleeve of his hoodie to stop himself crying out.

His stitches done, he wrapped it in some bandages that had somehow found their way into his bathroom cabinet.

He looked down at his black hoodie, unsure how he would be able to get the blood stain out without ruining the hoodie. He needed to sew up the tears as well but the blood was the main concern at the moment.

That was a point actually. His bedroom carpet was probably matted with blood, he’d need to sort that out too. He shoved his hoodie in the wash bin, planning to stuff it in the wash when everyone else was busy, it’d probably be easier to get a new one though.

He put that to the back of his mind and started to scrub the blood off of the floor, trying to make sure every last bit was gone. He discovered where Preston had got the shard of glass from as he found what had probably been the glass Anxiety had forgotten to take back to the kitchen. When he was done cleaning that up as well he searched inside his wardrobe for a different t-shirt and hoodie. Luckily he had another hoodie that wasn’t as comfy as his old one but it looked exactly the same apart from the slight fading that made it a lighter shade of black.

The others hardly paid any attention to him so it was really unlikely they’d even notice or care. Even if they did notice he could wear whatever he wanted.

He carefully pulled on the hoodie and went back into the bathroom to reapply his eye shadow. It was rather difficult as he could barely lift his left arm without pain. He eventually managed it although it looked sloppy but no one would notice.

He pulled the hood up with his good hand and walked over to his door which he couldn’t open for some reason. He let go of the handle before he realised it was probably part of Prestons sick game. To test this theory he grabbed the handle with his left hand and pulled, gritting his teeth to prevent himself crying out in pain. It swung open with ease and he shuddered.

He walked down the corridor towards the kitchen where he could grab something to drink and maybe eat but he heard a familiar voice in his head.

“no food or drink for you today.” Preston hissed before cackling. The sound made Anxiety flinch and glance around nervously.

“don’t worry I’m just a voice in your head, you’ll know when I’m there in person, believe me.” Preston laughed.

Anxiety shuddered and turned to walk out of the kitchen only to collide with someone. He fell backwards and landed heavily on his left arm.

Patton was walking to the kitchen to grab some cookies. He needed them to help him think over the events with Anxiety. He collided with someone and opened his mouth to apologise when he realised it was Anxiety and he was hunched over on the floor clutching his left arm.

“hey kiddo, you alright there?” he asked, concern present in his voice as he noticed a couple of tears soaking into the dark material of the hoodie.

“I’m fine, just look where your going next time.” came Anxietys reply but it didn’t sound at all annoyed, it sounded more like he was trying not to cry. Patton frowned and bent down to reach for Anxietys left arm but Anxiety flinched away instantly before struggling to his feet and brushing past Patton.

Patton forgot about the cookies and followed Anxiety, worried about the youngest trait.

“leave me alone. Go watch a Disney movie with Princey or go bother the nerd with your dad jokes. I’m fine.” Anxiety muttered as he walked back into his room and shut the door behind him.

Patton stood there for a second, his mind working furiously before he turned and walked quickly to where Roman and Logan were playing chess.

“I think there’s something really wrong with Anxiety.” he said, mild panic in his voice that made the other two immediately pay attention.

“explain.” said Logan, staring intently at Patton.

“well I was going to the kitchen to grab some cookies and I accidentally bumped into Anxiety. He ended up on the floor but he was grabbing his left arm like he was in a lot of pain and I could see two spots on his hoodie where tears had landed. He tried to tell me he was fine but his voice was shaky and he didn’t sound fine at all. Which reminds me, you know earlier when we were outside his door and he told Roman to leave him alone? He told me to leave him alone and go watch a Disney movie with Roman but his voice sounded completely different. I don’t know what that means but it’s like he had a different voice completely.” Patton took a deep breath after saying all that and waited for one of the other two to respond.

Logans mind began to work furiously to come up with different ways to explain everything. “The most likely option is that we assume another person was present in Anxietys room who somehow injured him and mimicked his voice satisfactorily enough to fool us into believing Anxiety was speaking. The other less likely options are that Anxiety really was practising but he injured himself in some way or he could have been having a nightmare and felt too embarrassed to tell us so he lied and the injury was caused from falling out of bed. There are other even less likely scenarios but they are irrelevant at this time unless we can get more data.” Logan said rapidly, already starting to form a plan of what to do next while the other two absorbed the information he’d just given them.

Roman seemed about ready to go and confront Anxiety but Patton grabbed his arm, knowing the darker traits emotions slightly better than the others.  
“You can’t just go bursting in on him Roman, this needs to be done carefully and with subtlety.” Patton patted Romans arm in a comforting way but Roman shook him off, angry that his idea had been shut down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anxiety sank onto his bed, he couldn’t risk the others finding out about Preston or he’d hurt them. He was terrified of leaving his room until his arm healed but he knew he’d probably get similar or worse injuries so he needed to try and work on his indifferent expression or ‘straight face’ although being a factor of Thomas’s personality meant he definitely wasn’t straight in the sexual sense of the word. He felt a small smirk tug at his lips as he made that joke but instantly regretted it when Prestons angry roar filled his head.

“don’t you even dare! I forbid you to make any jokes or humorous comments while I own you. Any breaking of my rules and you will be punished.” Anxiety flinched and nodded meekly, really he should have known better.

“let’s go back to the kitchen.” Prestons voice said suddenly. Anxiety got to his feet and slowly made his way over to the door. “quickly before you’re noticed or I’ll have to deal with whoever sees you.” came Prestons threatening voice.

Anxiety stepped out of his room shaking slightly as he crept down the hall to the kitchen. Luckily it was empty. “now grab that bottle.” Demanded Preston eagerly. Anxiety hesitated with his hand above the bottle of vodka, he’d never drank before and he was terrified of what Preston would do if he got drunk but it was either this or everyone else would suffer so he grabbed it and carefully hid it zipped up in his hoodie just in case.

As he left the kitchen Anxiety glanced up and down the hall before walking quickly back to his room. Just as his hand landed on the door handle he heard Pattons worried voice coming from behind him. He closed his eyes for a second then turned around with his best blank expression.

“Anxiety, how are you feeling kiddo? After that thing in the kitchen I didn’t get a chance to talk to you.” Patton said with a small loving smile.

“get rid of him now or I’ll do it myself.” snapped Preston angrily and it took all of Anxietys will power not to flinch.

“like I said before, leave me alone.” said Anxiety but he guessed his voice wasn’t convincing enough because Preston growled. Anxiety couldn’t think of a way to get rid of Patton before Preston suddenly muttered “why’s he so worried suddenly? None of them ever usually try and talk to you or care enough to say hello. It’s probably just a way to find out more about you to make fun of and he’ll go back to the Prince and the nerd and they’ll have a nice laugh about you, like they always do. He doesn’t actually care so you should have no problem telling him to fuck off.”

Patton tried to say something more but Anxiety remembered all the worthless feelings from when the others had taunted him mercilessly whenever he made a mistake or belittling his opinion even if he turned out to be right in the end. “Stop! Why do you suddenly care? It’s not like you usually bother to talk to me so why start now? Just piss off.” Anxiety shouted with a small sob towards the end before he walked into his room and slammed the door as hard as he could, making the other doors rattle in their doorframes.

Patton stood outside Anxietys door with a hurricane of different emotions. He was hurt that Anxiety had spoken to him like that, he was annoyed about the language, he was frustrated about not being able to speak but above all he felt guilty and horrible about what Anxiety had said because to an extent it was true. He had always known he was slightly colder to the younger trait but he didn’t realise just how much until now.

Patton turned and walked down the corridor, not looking where he was going as tears obscured his vision. He should have told the others to lay off or he should have encouraged him more. He was the embodiment of the heart, emotions, morality or 'the right brain’ so he should have done something but he just sat back and watched.

Roman frowned as he walked down the corridor, the doors had just shaken like there was an earthquake but everything else was fine so he was trying to figure out what had happened. As he turned a corner he crashed right into Patton.

“oh… Hey there…Roman…I didn’t really see you there.” sniffed Patton. Roman immediately bit back his annoyed retort about people not looking where they are going and focused on trying to work out what Patton was upset about.

“let’s go to the lounge to talk huh?” Roman said gently. “we can grab some cookies or something and a comfy blanket and we can have a nice conversation.” Roman waited for Patton to give him a smile and agree but Patton just shook his head and whispered “I don’t deserve cookie’s or a blanket.”

Roman knew instantly something was terribly wrong but reluctantly admitted he’d need Logan to help decipher Pattons words. He carefully guided Patton into the living room where he waved Logan over and said “Something is really wrong with Patton, he turned down cookies and a blanket which is not normal for him.”

Logan thought carefully before replying “if it were anyone else I would inform you that the declination of cookies and a blanket does not indicate a chaotic error however as it is Patton I will agree that this behaviour is most irregular.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anxiety waited until Patton had walked away from the door before he sunk to the floor with a quiet sob.

“what did I tell you? They don’t care about you. If they cared they would know your name by now but they haven’t once asked or mentioned calling you anything but Anxiety. You want to know why that is?” Preston said in a confident voice. “it’s because they don’t want to see you as a being with feelings. If they only call you Anxiety then they only have to acknowledge your job or main function. It dehumanises you. Makes you easier to call an evil monster. That’s why they’ve never bothered to learn or ask your name.”

Anxiety felt the small hope in his chest start to dwindle but he held on still. There had to be something, some reason where that wasn’t true.

The confidence and pleasure in Preston voice as he spoke made Anxiety feel like it was the truth or Preston wouldn’t be so happy.

“now, enough moping around, grab the bottle and start drinking.” commanded Preston gleefully.

Anxiety twisted off the cap and took a hesitant sniff, flinching as the fumes burned his nose. He carefully took a small sip and coughed as it burned his throat. Preston just laughed and urged him to drink more so Anxiety did.

Soon half the bottle was gone and Anxiety was laying dazed on the floor, propped up against the wall. Preston materialised in front of him and gently whispered suggestions in his ear.

“c'mon Anxiety, just walk to the bathroom and smash the mirror. It’s easy.” he whispered with a grin. Anxiety stirred slightly and struggled to his feet while Preston watched eagerly.

“that’s it, everyone hates you and you never do anything right. You cause everyone so much suffering especially poor Thomas. You’re a nuisance. You’re worthless. They’d be better off without you.” he chanted, reveling in the steadily saddening face of Anxiety.

“everyone hates me.” mumbled Anxiety as he stumbled into the bathroom. He looked in the mirror and cringed away as he saw his reflection. “pathetic” he whispered before punching the mirror so it shattered.

Shards of mirror carpeted the floor but Anxiety ignored them and reached for a large shard that had landed on the sink.

“that’s it, just a couple quick swipes and everything will feel so much better.” Preston crooned, his eyes fixed on Anxietys hand.

Anxiety slashed the glass down on his arm a few times, feeling soothed by the sensation that it gave him. He tightened his hand on the shard before dropping it on the floor and stumbling clumsily back to his room.

Preston felt a pleasant shudder rush through him as he watched Anxiety step barefoot through the broken mirror. The sight of blood filled him with excitement and he could feel himself getting stronger.

“drink some more vodka.” he suggested with a manic grin, knowing that the more Anxiety listened to him the weaker his will would get and the stronger Preston would get.

Anxiety downed a quarter of the rest of the bottle before falling sideways, completely passed out. Preston laughed crazily, took this as his chance and pressed their foreheads together, slowly pushing negative thoughts into Anxietys mind so that when he woke up he’d think it was his own idea to drink and cut himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roman sat silent on the sofa as Patton slept leaning on him, finally worn out from crying.

Logan was pacing up and down, his mind working furiously to come up with a way to get Anxiety to spend time with them. That way they could figure out what was wrong.

Roman felt himself drifting off but jolted awake as he heard a crash. He glanced at Logan who had paused in his pacing and was looking at Roman with wide eyes.

Quietly Roman removed himself from Patton and together he and Logan walked towards Anxietys door where they listened intently.

They could just about hear heavy breathing and then they heard a soft thump followed by the clink of glass hitting the wall. They frowned at each other and then jumped as they heard crazed laughter that didn’t sound at all like Anxiety. It went silent after a few seconds and Roman could feel himself growing more and more tired so they decided to confront Anxiety in the morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Anxiety woke up in agony. He had the biggest headache ever and his arms and feet were throbbing. He opened his eyes slowly and saw the dried blood on the bottoms of his feet and streaked on his arms. He thought hard for a second before he remembered drinking the vodka and smashing the bathroom mirror. He had a lot of cleaning up to do. What was the point though? No one ever came into his room, why should they? No one cared so there was no reason to try. What was the point? He held back a yelp of pain as he shifted and put too much weight on his left arm.

“look what we have here.” came the smug voice of Preston. Anxiety flinched as the embodiment of depression put a hand on his shoulder. “looks like you had a fun night.” Preston was pleased at how down Anxiety looked.

“just leave me alone unless you’re gonna help me clean up.” Anxiety said in a dull defeated voice.

Preston smirked and replied “you’re gonna bother cleaning up? No one ever comes into your room so why do you care?”

Anxiety sighed and muttered “I’m just going to put the bottle back then.”

Preston considered this but refrained from commenting.

Anxiety picked up the almost empty bottle and struggled towards his door which he managed to open silently. It was early in the morning so no one should catch him. He quietly limped towards the kitchen and hid the bottle right at the back of the cupboard.

Relieved, he wiped a hand down his face, forgetting the slice he’d accidentally made the night previously so now there was a streak of blood down his face.

Preston had to stop himself giggling like a school child as he saw the mess Anxiety had become. All he needed now was for the others to wake up and see him. He had the perfect idea.

Preston crept down the hall and found Patton asleep on the sofa. He tugged the blanket off of him and blew cold air into his ear, leaving before Patton woke up properly enough to see him.

Anxiety froze as he heard a noise and turned around, flinching as he saw Preston grinning at him. “what have you done?” Anxiety asked, worry in his voice. 

“it’s not what I’ve done but what you’ve done to yourself. You’re so weak and pathetic. The first hint of alcohol and look what you do to yourself. If any of the others found out they’d be disgusted. About the alcohol, about the blood but especially about how weak you are.” Preston snarled, his words dripping with venom.

“just leave me alone.” Anxiety said and Preston cackled. “please…” the last word he whispered pleased Preston above everything else. He was finally starting to break him.

Patton woke up on the sofa, his blanket having fallen on the floor and a weird sensation in his ear. He almost brushed it off and went back to sleep when he heard murmuring. Curiously he creeped down the hall so he could see in the kitchen.

He set his eyes on Anxiety and froze in horror. There was blood streaking his clothes and he looked a right mess, his clothes crumpled, hair matted with blood, bloody bandages wrapped around his arms, bloody footprints on the kitchen floor, dark bags under his eyes that didn’t look artificial at all. Patton stood there for a few minutes before registering what Anxiety was saying to himself.

“just leave me alone…. Please….” his voice sounded so defeated and lost that Patton couldn’t stand it. He was about to step into the kitchen when a thought struck him. He needed Logan and Roman to help him. Anxiety wasn’t going to talk unless the three of them made him. He carefully pulled out his phone and sent a text to them both saying he urgently needed them to come to the kitchen because Anxiety was there and was covered in blood.

He didn’t have to wait long and the three of them entered the kitchen, taking note of the violent flinch Anxiety did as he noticed them.

Anxiety turned around and flinched when he saw the other three staring at him in shock and horror.

“they’re horrified because they know what you’ve done, you’re covered in blood.” Preston said, sitting on the side watching happily. Anxiety glanced at him in panic and Preston laughed. “they can’t see me, don’t worry.”

“Anxiety?” Patton asked gently. “what did you do?” his voice was kind and understanding but to Anxiety it sounded full of accusation and disgust.

“nothing. Leave me alone.” he managed to say but he felt dizzy and swayed slightly.

Logan was pale and muttered “he’s probably lost a lot of blood.” Roman looked uncertain of how to deal with the situation while Patton was close to tears.

“Anxiety, we’re trying to understand what’s wrong with you.” Roman said and felt a glare from Patton as Anxiety backed away with fear in his eyes.

“they’re just saying that to get your guard down. They want to know your weaknesses and now they know you’re in a weak state they’re trying to take advantage of you.” Preston said, walking towards Anxiety and laying a hand on his shoulder, ignoring the fact that Anxiety yelped and shrunk away from his touch.

“ I’m fine.” stuttered Anxiety eventually but as he tried to step backwards he felt his foot slip, still slick with blood. The ground rushed up to meet him and there was a sickening crack as his nose collided with the floor.

Preston cackled gleefully as Anxiety lay on his front, blood pouring from his nose and the others went into panic mode. This was going to cause Thomas hell.

Logan calmed down enough to order Roman to pick up Anxiety and tell Patton to go grab some bandages from his room.

Preston watched in amusement as they ran around like headless chickens before eventually getting bored and going to talk to Anxiety.

“it would be much less hassle if you were to drown in your own blood.” he said, watching the small spark of hope flicker slightly. He needed to do something more to completely break Anxiety.

“imagine how your drinking and cutting harmed Thomas. What if he cut too. Think of how angry the others would be of they find out what you’ve done to Thomas.” he said and felt satisfied as the hope in Anxietys eyes finally disappeared. “you’re weak, too weak to protect Thomas. You’re just causing him more pain, you can’t do your job properly so you might as well just stop altogether and do everyone a favour. No one will miss you.”

Preston words stabbed into Anxietys mind and lodged there, leaving Anxiety unable to ignore the thoughts running through his mind. He sat up and stumbled towards his room, ignoring Logan telling him to come back. Patton tried to reason with him but Anxiety pushed past him and walked to his room, his one safe place.

Roman stood in the middle of the hall, refusing to let Anxiety past.

“you need medical attention.” he said sadly as he took in the horrific condition Anxiety was in. “no, I need to be left alone.” Anxiety muttered and tried to push past Roman but Roman picked him up and started carrying him towards Logan again.

“let me go.” Anxiety sobbed, thrashing around, causing the stitches in his arm from a couple nights before to tear and blood splattered the floor.

Roman froze as warm fresh blood soaked into his white outfit and spilled down onto the floor. He carefully set Anxiety down and yelled for Logan desperately as Anxiety lay on the floor, blood pooling around him from where the stitches had ripped out of his arm.

“Anxiety stay awake.” Roman shouted, while Patton sobbed next to him. Logan was trying to desperately patch him up but Anxiety didn’t want to be saved.

“I’m doing everyone a favour.” he whispered before closing his eyes. Roman and Patton screamed no loudly while Logan focused on stopping the bleeding. He eventually stitched up the wounds and luckily there was still a pulse but it was quite faint and he doubted Anxiety would wake up anytime soon, if at all.

He broke this news to the others and Patton dissolved into tears, clinging to Logan. Roman stared down at the youngest trait and felt a huge wave of guilt and regret flow through him.

Preston stood off to the side with a satisfied smirk. He’d broken Anxiety and now the others would fail to protect Thomas from himself because Anxiety was essential to keeping Thomas from becoming reckless.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few weeks passed and Anxiety remained unconscious in a kind of coma. The others had reluctantly started doing their jobs again, unwilling to leave Anxiety alone but having no other choice as Thomas became more difficult to keep out of trouble.

“Thomas stop!” exclaimed Patton, fear in his voice as he grabbed Thomas’s arm and pulled him back onto the curb as a car screeched past. “you could have been hit.” Patton was close to tears as he mumbled this but Thomas barely took notice of him.

Logan was working overtime to provide Thomas with suitable facts that would stop him doing reckless things and due to the work his general appearance was worse off. He was no longer wearing impeccably clean and ironed clothes, they were all wrinkled and his tie hung loose from his neck. His hair was everywhere and there was even a lens missing from his glasses.

Roman was also looking less regal and well put together than normal. His suit was still bloodstained and there was rarely a smile on his face that didn’t turn into a grimace.

All in all the three sides were showing cracks and Preston watched eagerly. It was more entertaining to watch as the lack of Anxiety made Thomas begin to destroy his other sides. He waited another week before suddenly appearing to the three of them as they finally rested while Thomas slept.

“Anxiety?” asked Logan, barely seeing properly from lack of sleep and due to the missing lens in his glasses. Preston smirked and shook his head while Roman glared at him suspiciously.

“nope, unfortunately not. My name is Preston.” he said with a small flourishing bow. “I’m here to replace Anxiety as he’s pretty much gone now.” he lied easily, hoping they were too distracted by their sadness and exhaustion to notice his pulse getting stronger.

“so you’re Thomas’s new anxiety?” asked Roman with a sceptical look.

Preston almost growled but instead smiled widely “I suppose so.” he responded.

Patton sniffed sadly and buried his face into Logans arm. Logan jumped slightly at the sudden contact but let Patton use him for comfort. He was trying to rationalise the need for a new Anxiety when Anxiety wasn’t dead yet. His usually fast, focused mind was now slow and easily distracted.

Roman had his guard up, he didn’t trust Preston because unlike the other two he could remember the night when Anxiety screamed out begging someone to stop. At the time he thought that Anxietys voice was hoarse from screaming but he felt like it wasn’t a coincidence that Preston somehow managed to show up when Anxiety was in a coma.

“wipe that smile off your face. This isn’t a happy situation.” he snarled, making the other two look up in shock. Preston dropped the smile and held back the angry outburst that threatened to take over.

Roman scowled and muttered “I don’t trust you.” he then turned and stormed off down the corridor. He didn’t know why but he found himself in Anxietys room. It was the first time he’d set foot inside Anxietys room and he smiled sadly as his eyes fell on the desk.

There was no chair in front of it because everyone knew Anxiety liked to sit on random surfaces that weren’t supposed to be sat on. He noticed a piece of paper and felt a couple tears come to his eyes as he realised it was a sketch of the four of them with Thomas in the middle. He focused on how Anxiety had drawn himself and sighed as he saw the hunched over position and half hidden face. Anxiety had been suffering for a while now yet no one had noticed.

Roman tore his eyes away from the drawing and found himself drawn to the other door in the room which led to the bathroom. He opened the door and gagged as he saw the blood splattered everywhere. This is where it’d happened. The mirror was in pieces and dried blood coated the edges of some of them. He noticed now the bloody footprints leading back into the room towards the far wall.

Roman walked over and fell to his knees as he saw the blood smeared on the wall. There was so much pain and suffering in this room that it was almost suffocating.

Patton eventually let go of Logan and went to find Roman as he knew how emotional he could get and he definitely needed someone to comfort him. Patton wandered down the corridor until he came to an open door where he could hear sobbing. He peered inside and felt his stomach twist painfully. Roman was kneeling on the floor crying and Patton could see the bloodstains so he correctly guessed it had to be Anxietys room.

Roman looked up as he felt arms around him and managed to gasp out “he was suffering so much, how did we not notice?” Patton started crying too and they hugged each other tightly for comfort.

Preston started sneaking down the corridor, drawn to the sounds of sobbing when he heard Logans voice.

“the other two may not remember you but I certainly do. You didn’t give us your name before but I know that you’re actually Depression.” Logan sounded calm but his voice shook with anger. It had taken a while to think why he’d recognised Preston due to exhaustion but he finally remembered. It was partly why he tended to avoid Anxiety because of how similar he looked to Depression.

“it took you long enough.” said Preston with a smirk. “I did wonder if maybe you’d somehow forgotten me but of course that’s impossible. There’s now way you of all people would have forgotten about me. Poor little Anxiety wasn’t around last time though so of course he wouldn’t have known who I was but that just made it so much more fun. I did enjoy my time with him.”

Logan felt a rage building up inside him unlike anything he’d felt before. "you need to leave. Now.” He managed to get out through gritted teeth. Preston just laughed crazily, not bothering to keep it down.

“you really think I’d leave now? I’ve almost accomplished my goal. Anxiety is as good as dead, you three are starting to break down and Thomas is going to do something so reckless one day that you won’t be able to stop him and he’ll die. Face the facts, I’ve won.”

Through this speech Logans face steadily reddened with anger and his hands curled into fists. He didn’t like physical fights but he would make an exception for Depression.

Roman and Patton heard the crazed laughter and exchanged a look before getting up and seeking the source. They peeked their heads out of Anxietys room and were shocked to see Preston and Logan arguing.

They overheard Prestons speech and were frozen in shock until Logan suddenly swung at Preston.

Preston wasn’t expecting this and he fell back slightly under the assault of fists that Logan was raining down on him, but Preston liked to play dirty so he kicked out and caught Logan in the place no guy likes to be kicked.

Logan doubled over with a groan and Preston took that as his chance to punch Logan in the face, shattering his glasses and breaking his nose.

Roman was full of rage but he was overshadowed by the ball of fury that was Patton. Without hesitation Patton sprang forward and started kicking and hitting Preston as hard as he could while shouting “no one hurts my family!”

Roman was torn between pummelling Preston and helping Logan. He stepped forward as an idea struck him.

“enough.” he commanded, making everyone pause. He lifted his katana sword and pointed it at Preston. “you’ve committed the ultimate crime and then some but I will give you a chance to defend yourself before I cut you down.” Roman managed to hold back his anger for now.

Preston considered him and glanced at the other two, already feeling bruises forming where he’d been hit. He came up with a sly idea. “what is this ultimate crime I’m being accused of?” he asked.

“you hurt Anxiety.” snarled Patton.

Preston smirked and replied “ah see that’s the thing. I didn’t hurt him at all, he did it to himself. He was so hurt over how you guys treated him that he started hurting himself and drowning his sorrows in vodka. I merely watched. Therefore I’ve done nothing.” Roman felt like he’d been stabbed in the chest as he acknowledged the truthfulness of Prestons statement but Logan wasn’t as easily fooled.

“you may not have physically hurt him but you convinced him to hurt himself and you made him drink so you could sway his will easier. I know how you operate Depression and the only reason you managed to get to him so quickly is because we didn’t acknowledge how he was feeling but the funny thing is you’re the main reason I never really spoke to him. You and him look quite similar so when Anxiety turned up I avoided him because I was reminded of you. I understand my mistake now and it could be too late but I’m never going to let you destroy anyone else ever again.” Logan spoke in a voice full of grim determination.

Preston raised an eyebrow at Logan and was about to make a snide comment when a sharp stabbing pain filled his stomach. He looked down and saw the tip of the katana poking out of his stomach. He turned his head and was shocked to see Patton and not Roman holding the hilt.

“how is this possible?” he asked and Patton tugged the sword free, a dark look on his face as he watched Preston collapse. “don’t underestimate my love of my family.” he muttered in a low voice.

Preston laughed, choking on blood. “the damage is done though so I still win.” Patton let out a growl and snarled “just die already you fucking lowlife.”

Logan and Roman stared at Patton in shock. They’d never seen this side of Patton and hoped to never see it again.

Preston eventually fell silent and stopped breathing, a smug expression still fixed on his face, even in death. After a few minutes he faded away and the others let out breaths of relief.

Roman took back his katana from Patton and put it back in its sheath.

There was complete silence for what seemed hours until Patton said quietly “I couldn’t let him hurt anyone else in the family.” he turned and walked away, going to sit next to Anxiety.

Roman and Logan exchanged a look before following him silently, unsure how to react to such an uncharacteristically violent action.

Logan carefully made sure his nose was straight so it wouldn’t set crooked and tried to sort his glasses out but they were destroyed. He sighed and tried his best to read the monitor he’d managed to set up.

“here, we have the same glasses and I don’t need them right now.” Patton said softly, handing his own pair of glasses to Logan.

Logan murmured his thanks and his eyesight was pretty much back to normal with Pattons glasses on. He read the monitor and felt a small jolt of hope, Anxietys heartbeat was getting stronger and the self-inflicted wounds were almost completely healed.

Roman noticed the way Logan eyes widened as he read the monitor and the way his lips twitched, like he almost smiled. “what is it?” he immediately demanded.

Logan debated whether to tell them he thought Anxiety was getting better because if he suddenly took a turn for the worse and lost him then it would destroy them. In the end he decided to risk it.

“his heartbeat is stronger and his injuries seem like they’ll completely heal in the next few days. He’ll have scars but I think we can start to be hopeful that he’ll wake up.” Logan voice shook slightly as he said it out loud, he was terrified of what Thomas would get up to in the days until Anxiety woke up.

Roman let out a sigh of relief and Patton brushed a few strands of hair out of Anxietys face. “you’re gonna be alright, we’re all here waiting for you to wake up now. Please wake up soon, we’re lost without you.” Patton whispered in his ear.

They stayed next to Anxiety until they felt Thomas waking up.

Logan took off Pattons glasses and held them out to him but Patton shook his head and replied “you need to keep an eye on him and he listens to you more than me now so I’ll stay here with Anxiety unless I’m needed. I won’t need them.” Logan hesitated but when they heard a crash he immediately sprang into action.

The crash turned out to be Thomas slipping over in the shower because he hadn’t been cautious enough. He was laying on the floor in a slight daze, a large bruise already forming on the side of his forehead.

“wow that really hurt, did I just fall?” he asked in a carefree voice. Logan had to stop himself from either making an angry comment or grabbing Thomas and trying to shake some sense into him.

Patton sat next to Anxiety with a contemplative look on his face that slightly unnerved Roman.

“what are you thinking about Patton?” Roman asked quietly.

Patton shook his head slightly “it doesn’t matter.” he replied dismissively, trying to ignore how out of character he felt. After stabbing Preston he felt like he’d changed slightly and something was off. He didn’t want to worry anyone though so he kept it to himself.

Roman was too tired and emotionally drained to try and get a proper answer out of Patton so he let him avoid the question.


	2. Out Of The Frying Pan...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: Alcohol abuse, forced kisses, violence

“you’ve failed! They know about me now and so you will be punished!” shrieked the familiar voice of Preston and Virgil thrashed around, unaware of the comforting voice in his ear or the gentle hands on his shoulders, pinning him to the bed so he didn’t injure himself. All he could focus on was the voice that had caused him so much pain.

“Anxiety? Can you hear me?” a soft voice asked, somehow drowning out the screaming of Prestons voice.

Virgil let out a small whimper and then Prestons voice came back again, screaming of all the agony he’d put Virgil through for breaking the deal.

Virgil let out a cry of “I’m sorry!” and started sobbing, not registering the quiet voices discussing what to do.

“Virgil? It’s me Patton. Preston is dead and gone. You’re safe now.” a voice said louder than before and Virgil stopped struggling in shock at the sound of his actual name.

“they’re lying! I’m still here!” growled the voice that sounded like Preston again and Virgil shuddered and shouted “you’re lying! I still hear him!” he kept his eyes squeezed shut, not wanting to see any of their faces full of pity or annoyance.

“it’s true, he’s dead. Patton killed him.” Another voice said and Virgil instantly recognised it as Romans.

He took a shaky breath and opened his eyes to see a shaken looking Patton and a pale faced Roman. What the hell had happened?

Suddenly Logan walked, wait no he limped in? And was that a bandage around his head? Virgil was incredibly worried and confused. “what… What happened?” he asked in a croaky voice as he sat up.

Logan sighed in relief at the sight of Virgil awake and collapsed into a chair beside the bed. “oh thank God you’re awake.” he said. “to answer your question Thomas has been incredibly reckless and only barely listens to me when I tell him not to do stuff. He completely ignores Patton now and Roman can occasionally get through to him but what we really need is you.”

Virgil was taken aback. “but… I’m useless. No one needs me.” he said and was shocked as all three of the others made noises of disagreement.

“we need you like Thomas needs oxygen to live. Without you Thomas takes risks that can prove fatal and if it weren’t for our quick intervention we might all have died about 6 times already.” Logan said tiredly.

Virgil looked at the other two while everyone was silent for a few minutes, then asked the question that had bothered him since Logan entered the room.

“what happened to your leg and head?”

Logan sighed, Patton sniffed and Roman looked down at the floor, tears silently running down his face.

“Thomas wanted to do something and I told him not to so he got angry and shoved me down the stairs. I was actually incredibly fortunate that I survived.” Logan spoke in an emotionless voice but Virgil could see it had terrified all of them.

Virgil frowned and looked down at his hands, he’d known he was what protected Thomas but Preston had convince him that he was terrible at it and surely he was right? He’d let Depression take over and that certainly meant he’d failed his job. But what if he was wrong?

A new confident voice spoke up in his mind and he looked around at the others. They seemed so genuine in their need for him to help, maybe, just maybe he was needed?

Suddenly an alarm went off and the other three paled.

“not again!” Exclaimed Patton and Logan struggled to his feet.

"what’s going on?” asked Virgil and Roman answered “Thomas is deciding to do something reckless again.”

Virgil had a quick argument with how own mind, trying to ignore the constant snarls of how much of a failure he was coming from a voice that sounded like Preston.

Determined to help he swung his legs out of bed, ignoring the exclamations from Patton that he should stay in bed and teleported to the passenger seat next to where Thomas was debating whether or not to floor it to make it through a small gap in the traffic.

“Thomas Foley Sanders! What the fuck are you doing!” Virgil shouted, making Thomas jump.

“I… I don’t know. Oh my God what am I doing? What am I wearing? Ew when did I last shower? I have to get back home now!” Thomas exclaimed and Virgil rolled his eyes as he turned the car around and headed back home.

Virgil returned to the mindspace and found the other three standing there with relieved, happy smiles on their faces. His face immediately went red and he muttered a quiet “what?”

Patton enveloped him in a hug, mumbling “thank you.” over and over again. Logan said “that’s why we need you. You make Thomas nervous about things that he should be nervous of so he doesn’t hurt or kill himself.”

Virgil could feel his face burning and he could still hear the voice of Preston insisting he was useless and no one wanted him.

Roman stood there in silence for a few moments then walked up closer and grabbed him in a hug while whispering “you saved us all, you’re more of a hero than I am. I stood by helplessly as Thomas started taking more risks and yet you knew exactly what to do. You’re probably the most important person out of all of us.”

Virgils bottom lip trembled for a few seconds and he broke down in Roman and Pattons arms, tears streaming down his face. “I’m so sorry!” he sobbed.

Roman rubbed his back and Patton asked “what for?”

Virgil gulped for breath and said “for giving in to P…Preston.”

Patton opened his mouth to reassure him but Logan beat him to it.

“there’s no need to apologise. Preston is manipulative and uses your own thoughts and feelings against you and makes you feel like he’s the only person who cares. He uses your darkest fears against you and then emotionally blackmails you when he finds out your weakness. I… I mean that’s what I guess he’s like… He seemed like the type to do that… I’m not talking from experience or anything…” Logans expression was unreadable as he trailed off and before anyone could say anything about what he’d said he turned and walked away.

“what?” Roman said and Patton just shushed him. “Logan seems to have history with Preston. He was the one who recognised him as depression.” Pattons voice was low and devoid of any happiness.

Virgil pulled away from the others and wondered if there was anything he could do. “maybe I could help?” he asked and the others shrugged so he carefully headed down the corridor to Logans room.

He knocked on the door but there was no answer. He sighed and twisted the door handle to find the door wasn’t locked. He quietly stepped inside and noticed Logan sitting on his bed staring into space, lost in thought.

He crept forward and murmured “Logan? Are you alright?”

Logan jolted out of his thoughts and turned to face Virgil with a fixed neutral expression. “yes I’m fine, just tired.” he said in a monotonous voice.

Virgil flinched because it sounded just like something he would say to someone if he wasn’t OK. He decided to leave him for now but later he would confront Logan because this wasn’t good.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Much later after Roman and Patton had explained what had been happening in the past month or two to Thomas, Virgil decided to try and talk to Logan again.

Entering the room the first thing he noticed was the familiar stench of alcohol. He looked at Logan to see him sitting on the floor clutching a bottle and shuddered as he tried to ignore his own memory of sitting like that.

“hey Logan? Why are you drinking?” Virgil asked as Logan looked up and got a huge grin on his face.

“hey there beautiful.” he slurred and Virgil frowned in confusion as he got closer to the drunk Logan.

“I think you’ve probably had enough.” he said and bent down to take the bottle but Logan grabbed him by the shirt.

“uh uh, I’ve not had nearly enough to erase you from my thoughts.” he muttered and planted a kiss on Virgils lips.

Virgils eyes went wide and he struggled to pull away. “what the hell was that?” he growled when he eventually managed to twist out of Logans grip.

“don’t pretend you didn’t like it Pressy boy.” Logan mumbled, his eyes glazed over.

Virgil was shocked “but… I’m not Preston.” he spluttered and Logan just smiled “I know that but you look like him so that’s enough for me.”

Virgil found himself getting pulled down to the floor again and was too caught off guard to resist. As Logan once again locked their lips together Virgil tried to struggle but found himself pinned, the drunk trait surprisingly strong

Suddenly the door burst open and there stood Patton eyes wide as he took in the sight of a drunk Logan pinning a stunned Virgil to the floor.

Patton felt like someone had punched him in the gut as he realised Logan had been kissing Virgil and he muttered “just wanted to see if you were OK.” before turning and running out, holding back tears.

Virgil quickly struggled away from Logan who had loosened his grip when Patton entered. “you’re too drunk, go to sleep or something.” he said and walked out of the room to try and find Patton. He needed to explain before Patton jumped to the conclusion that he liked Logan or anything like that.

Why did everything always fuck up like this?


	3. ….And Into The Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: manipulation

Patton ran through the mind space, ignoring the calls from Virgil, and quickly locked himself in the room only he had the key to.

“Patton c'mon, open the door. Please?” Virgils voice came from outside as he knocked on the door but Patton ignored him and instead focused on the room he was in.

This was where Thomas’s emotions were controlled by both him and Virgil but mainly him because Virgil wasn’t fond of manually working with the emotions.

Usually Patton came in here to cause a big burst of positivity but he could only feel heartache and betrayal. Virgil knew he liked Logan, he’d told him that ages ago in exchange for knowing Virgils name.

Anger and jealousy started to cloud Pattons thoughts and suddenly the room flared red and started to grow uncomfortably hot as a large red muscular male appeared and started shouting. The room then flared green and a green scowling female stomped in. The two emotions bumped into each other and began to boost each other’s power.

“Patt please! I promise that’s not what I wanted. I was just trying to grab the alcohol off him and he grabbed me. You know I’m not strong enough to get away from him. Just… Please come out of there.” Virgil pleaded through the door, his voice breaking into sobs towards the end as he felt Thomas’s emotions twisting.

Patton felt himself slowly giving in until he heard a voice in his head.

“there didn’t seem to be any alcohol in there when you looked though. He’s just saying that to get you out of this room so he can brag about it.”

Patton held a hand to his head as he felt a stabbing pain through his temple but through the sudden fuzziness he found himself agreeing with those words.

With this new thought he let a couple tears fall and two emotions sprang from the spot they fell. Sadness and Doubt.

The grey and blue emotions linked arms and skipped towards where Anger and Jealousy were having a shouting match.

Patton felt his knees give out as the voice in his head spoke again. “Logan doesn’t share your feelings, that much is clear. Looks as if you’ll be forever alone with no one to cuddle with at night. That’s no way to live.”

Patton was overwhelmed by despair and a dark navy blue girl appeared sitting on the floor nearby.

“why would he want you over Virgil? You’re too stupid to be with a smart guy like Logan. He hates you.”

The voice in Pattons head hammered home it’s last point and Patton collapsed into a ball, crying like he’d never cried before.

Unbeknownst to him the emotions he’d conjured had suddenly began to morph together into a black formless blob. Then from the blackness walked Preston, completely healed and ready to destroy his latest victim.

“it’s alright Patton, let it all out. I’m always here for you unlike the others.” he said placing a hand on Pattons back.

Patton flinched slightly at the ice cold touch but began to relax into it. He found it soothing and he craved more.

Preston had quickly thrown up a sound barrier between Patton and the door where Virgil was frantically trying to get his attention so now all Patton could hear was him.

“I’ll always be here Patt, a shoulder to cry on or someone to listen. I care about you” Preston murmured softly in Pattons ear and wrapped his arms around the usually cheerful trait.

Patton felt as if he’d been thrown into a bath of ice but everything quickly became numb and he leant further into the hug, his brain still fuzzy and his heart aching.

“why? Why doesn’t he want me?” Patton sobbed and Preston fought down a grin. “because he doesn’t see how smart you are but I can see it. You’re an intelligent, beautiful person who deserves better than that snobby nerd who thinks you can’t keep up with him.”

Prestons voice was so gentle and genuine sounding that Patton began to agree. Wanting to see who was being so kind to him he started to turn his head.

Thinking quickly Preston pulled Pattons glasses off and whispered “I’m taking those off because I want to kiss you and show you just how amazing you are.” it was all improvised rubbish but Patton seemed to believe it.

Preston forced down a laugh then planted a soft kiss on Pattons lips. Patton flinched at how cold it felt but immediately wanted more so he connected their lips again.

Preston fought a smirk and quickly began to take control of the kiss, pushing his tongue between Pattons lips and pushing him to the floor.

Patton gasped for breath and squirmed under Prestons hold but didn’t attempt to escape, he was enjoying himself too much.

Preston pulled away eventually and asked “what did you think of that?”

Patton stuttered slightly before managing to gasp out “it was perfect.”

Preston smirked and ran a hand through Pattons hair, holding back a snort of amusement as Patton shuddered and leaned closer.

Tapping Pattons glasses with his index finger Preston made sure he would see the world through a more jaded filter and handed them back.

Patton put them on and looked at Preston with a confused face. He could have sworn he knew this person but he couldn’t remember where from. He pushed the thought away and found his voice.

“you’re so sweet, and a good kisser too.” he said in a shy voice and Preston gave him a pleased smile.

“I aim to please. If I can help you through this situation then I promise more kisses will follow. Only if you want them though.” Preston mumbled in a bashful voice and internally grinned as Patton burst out “I definitely want more kisses!”

Preston gave him a smile and hugged him, a wicked smile spreading across his face as he thought of his new plan. Virgil was still under his influence and he knew an easy way of getting to Logan if what he’d seen was true.

His idea of latching onto Patton at the last second had been a stroke of pure genius if he said so himself. He’d seen the small sliver of corruption appear as Patton stabbed him with the intent on killing him and that was all it took for him to be able to latch on and build up his strength.

The only issue now would be the Prince but hopefully when the other three broke he’d follow shortly after.

Preston could no longer hear Virgil outside the room and grinned.

In time they would learn that Depression has a way of worming its ways into the cracks of your mind and it was incredibly difficult to kill.


	4. Love Is A Dangerous Thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Threats of violence, hints to an abusive relationship, manipulation

Logan woke up with a pounding headache and groaned. He held a hand to his head and looked around, noticing several empty bottles and one slightly full one. He winced as his body protested to his movement.

This wasn’t the first time he’d woken up like this but he really should try to avoid sleeping on the floor next time. It was painful.

He pushed himself up and used his desk to steady himself. He could barely remember what happened last night so he planned on asking anyone if he’d done anything. He shuddered as he remembered the last time he’d gotten drunk. He’d been so horrible to everyone. That was when he was reminded of Him by a story he’d read online.

Logan jolted out of his thoughts and quickly wiped away a tear. He refused to think back to that. He needed to focus on Thomas.

“I don’t need him, I don’t need love. It’s all just chemicals.” he muttered to himself, turning it into a kind of chant. He kept repeating that in his head until he had locked away his feelings. With them now repressed he could continue with his day like normal.

He walked out of his room and into the lounge where he noticed a tired looking Roman and a sleeping Virgil.

Roman looked up as he entered and sent him a glare.

“what the fuck did you do last night?” Roman whisper yelled, trying not to wake the trait sleeping next to him.

Logan was confused and whispered back “what? What do you mean?”

Roman scowled at him before sighing and muttering “you should really stop drinking Logan. You caused absolute fucking chaos last night.”

Logan frowned and wracked his brain trying to remember something, anything, from the previous night.

Soft lips, someone pleading with him and sobs. Logan clutched his head and asked “who did I kiss last night?”

Roman glared at him again and replied “take a guess. Patton walked in on you and Virgil. I haven’t seen Patton since he ran through here in tears last night. Virgil here tried to explain you were drunk but he couldn’t get through to him and ended up having a panic attack. I literally had to drag him away from the room Patton locked himself in and comfort him all night.”

Logan went pale as he remembered how Patton had said he liked Logan and would wait for him to come back around to the idea of love.

He sunk onto the sofa and put his head in his hands “what have I done Roman?” he asked.

Roman frowned and said “if you’re looking for advice then listen closely. Never, ever kiss Virgil again or I may just run you through with my katana. Now go fix your mistake and if anything like this happens again and you make Patton or Virgil cry, you’ll have to answer to me. They’ve been through too much for you to treat them like you did last night.”

By the end Roman was growling and Logan was staring at him with wide eyes. Then Logan felt a sudden rage begin to build up. He always kept his emotions locked up tight and pretended he was fine but for Roman to say the others had been through too much was just taking the piss. What about the things he’d been through? No one seemed to care that he’d suffered too but no, who would care that the emotionless robot had suffered?

Logan stood up and walked swiftly out of the room, his hands curled into fists and his entire body shaking. He was on the brink of losing it and he’d probably either punch something or cry.

He ended up in front of a door and he tried the handle only to find it locked. That was quite strange, the only door he knew that could be locked in the mindspace was the emotions room. Which meant Patton had locked himself in the emotions room.

It took a while to process with his hungover brain but he managed to put two and two together. He knocked on the door urgently. “Patton? You OK in there?” he asked, dreading what might have happened.

“Patton is just fine.” a familiar voice said and the door swung open to reveal a smirking Preston.

Logans mouth dropped, his eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat.

He thought maybe he’d started to get over him when he managed to attack him before but now he wasn’t so sure.

Preston continued to smirk and beckoned Logan closer. Logan shuffled forward into the room and the door slammed behind him, making him jump.

“last time I saw you, you were trying to bust my beautiful face.” Preston said in a mocking voice and Logan gulped.

“you almost killed Virgil.” Logan said and Preston laughed.

“your little act might fool the idiots you surround yourself with but I know what that was really about. You thought I’d left you for Virgil.” Preston got closer to Logan and spoke the next words in his ear.

“we both know your heart still belongs to me.”

Logan tried to push down the feelings he’d been repressing for so long but with Preston right in front of him like this it was difficult.

Preston trailed a finger down Logans cheek and jawline, making it come to rest under his chin which he lifted so Logan would look him in the eyes. “you still love me, despite what I’ve done. Don’t you?” he asked in a soft voice.

Logan shuddered and stuttered out a denial but Preston cut him off. “ah, ah ah, the truth now Logan.”

Logan closed his eyes and swallowed before mumbling “yes.”

“yes what?” Preston said gleefully.

Logan took a few shaky breaths, knowing exactly what Preston wanted to hear. This was a power play and they both knew who was in charge.

“I still love you Preston.” he said and opened his eyes so he was staring Preston directly in the eyes.

Preston smiled and replied “that’s a good little nerd.”

Logan sighed and looked down before suddenly remembering Patton.

“what did you do to Patton?” he asked and Preston shushed him.

“the adorable little murderer is fine, he’s having a little nap. I wanted you all to myself.” Preston said and walked away from Logan to gesture to a spot where Patton lay asleep in the corner.

Logan shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts. “stop, you’re doing that thing again. You need to leave.” Logan managed to say.

Preston pouted like a child and said in a childish voice “aw baby don’t be like that. You know how much I love you.”

Logan was taken by surprise by the admission of love but struggled to focus back on getting him to leave.

“you’re trying to trick me.” Logan said and Preston walked closer with an eyebrow raised.

“tricking you am I? Is this a trick?” Preston said and pulled Logan into a heated kiss before pulling away to breathe.

Logan panted and tried to organise his thoughts but he was too dazed by the kiss.

“was that real enough for ya Logan baby?” Preston asked with a smirk and Logan nodded, unable to find his voice.

“let’s get out of here and go somewhere more comfortable.” Preston suddenly said and pointed to Patton.

“carry him to his room and then meet me in the imagination part of the mindspace. You’ll regret it of you don’t.”

With these parting words Preston unlocked the door and slipped out, leaving Logan alone with the seemingly asleep Patton.

Deciding it would be best to just do as he was told Logan approached Patton and picked him up, slightly alarmed at how cold he felt. He could still feel a strong pulse and hear the even breathing but that was the only thing that kept him from assuming Patton was dead.

Logan placed Patton down on his bed and then covered him with multiple blankets and duvets in an attempt to warm him up.

With one last glance at Patton, Logan left the room and made his way towards the imagination. He only came here when he had to and he was worried about what Preston would manage to think up.

Preston stood waiting by the edge of trees and as Logan drew nearer he noticed a cigarette in his hand.

Logan paused for a second, suddenly hesitant to get closer as he remembered what happened last time. He still had the scars on his chest.

Preston looked up as he heard Logan and noticed the nervous glances he kept throwing at the cigarette in his hand. A smile spread across his lips and he said “don’t worry, nothings going to happen. Unless you want it to of course.”

Logan gulped and stepped closer, hoping he was telling the truth.

Preston took one more deep inhale on his cigarette and flicked it away, not caring where it landed. “you haven’t changed a bit since I last saw you.” he said and looked Logan up and down with a grin as they both remembered they’d seen each other only a week or so ago.

Logan shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and cast around for something to say. “those cigarettes are really bad for your health you know. You’ll get lung cancer or something.” even to Logan his voice sounded shaky and weak.

Preston snorted with amusement and replied “I don’t think they will affect me because 1. I’m not a human I’m a trait or emotion or whatever you want to call me and 2. In case you haven’t noticed it’s really difficult to kill me so I think I’ll be fine. Thanks for the concern though loverboy.”

Logan went red at the nickname, not used to being referred to like that. The only person who gave him nice nicknames was Patton.

Patton… Patton had feelings for him. Logan knew this and wondered if Preston knew. Who was he kidding, Preston knew everything. Logan sighed and came out of his thoughts to see Preston looking at him with anger gleaming in his eyes.

“you were thinking about the murderer again, weren’t you? What was it this time? Feeling guilty about kissing Virgil and breaking the little wimps heart?” Preston spat the words as if they left a bad taste in his mouth and Logan shook his head, too scared to speak in case Preston lost it.

Preston took a deep breath and suddenly his smile was back in place. “now, where were we?” he asked in a happy voice and Logan shuddered at how quick he could switch. It had been like this before and everything he said had to go through filters and be analysed in case he set Preston off.

Preston grabbed Logan by the wrist and tugged him into a dark forest that suddenly appeared around them. “c'mon Logan my adorkable little nerd. I have something to show you.” Preston said in a sing-song voice.

Logan didn’t even try to resist Preston and followed him into the forest, becoming increasingly aware of how easy it would be to get lost.

“we’re here!” Preston announced and Logan looked around, not seeing anything that stood out.

“look up you silly sausage.” Preston said in a childish voice which creeped Logan out. He was way too good at doing that voice.

Logan glanced up and noticed a huge looking tree house. It was built between three humongous trees and looked incredibly sturdy.

“go up there and wait for me. I have something to do and it’s safer up there for you when I’m not around.” Preston said with a devilish grin and Logan swallowed nervously and climbed up the ladder.

Preston watched and as Logan got halfway up he called out “this is a very nice view.”

Logan inhaled his own saliva in shock and started spluttering and coughing while Preston cackled.

“messing with you is so fun.” he said wiping a pretend tear from his eye and he turned and started to walk away throwing one last comment to Logan as he went. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

Logan watched him go and quickly climbed the rest of the way up so he could sit in the tree house and think.

He needed to sort his thoughts out and work out what he wanted before Preston got back.

Preston had been such a sweet talker, with brains and a sarky twisted sense of humour but his love of physical and emotional torture had definitely taken its toll on Logan. He remembered looking at Preston in awe and admiration and later on, fear.

Then there was Patton. Sweet innocent Patton with a heart of gold and a love of bad puns and cheesy jokes. He constantly tried to make everyone smile and he never once did it for selfish reasons. Logan could tell Patton was the kind of person who would do anything for the person he loved.

But…

Preston had come first and Logan was still very much in love with him. He couldn’t help himself. Everytime he tried to convince himself that Preston was bad news and he didn’t love him something would happen and he’d fall for him all over again. It was unhealthy, both mentally and physically, to have a relationship with depression but Logan was trapped in a web like a helpless insect waiting for the spider to descend.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Preston snuck through the mindspace, searching for his last victim.

Eventually he rounded a corner and spotted Virgil asleep next to Roman who seemed to have dozed off himself, his arms wrapped around Virgil.

Preston tilted his head as he thought hard about what to do next. He needed something subtle yet effective.

He thought for a long while before he had an idea. He crept forwards using his invisible ability and carefully woke up Virgil.

Virgils eyes fluttered open and when he saw he was in Romans arms he blushed red. He carefully extracted himself from Roman and looked around, wondering why he woke up.

Suddenly he remembered the previous night and quickly went to go check on Patton leaving Roman on his own.

Preston debated whether to follow Virgil or mess with the Prince and eventually decided to just leave a small nightmare in Romans mind about Virgil not returning his feelings because anyone with eyes could see the way Roman felt about Virgil.

Preston then followed Virgil down the hall until he reached Pattons room.

As Virgil entered his jaw dropped, his mind still processing the sight before him.

Preston walked in and had to stuff his hand into his mouth to stop himself bursting into laughter. He’d really done a number on Patton.


	5. Blood. So Much Blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: mentions of blood, self harm, torture, violence

Patton woke up with a jolt and kicked off all the blankets, he was soaked in sweat.

He quickly tried to stand up but his legs felt like jelly and he fell to the floor with a crash. He looked around his room in confusion.

The last thing he remembered was hugging someone and then everything was fuzzy. He lay there for a few more minutes until he remembered what had happened with Logan.

Silent tears ran down his face and he curled into a ball, clawing at his arms as he struggled to cope with the memory of Virgil and Logan kissing.

All the betrayal and despair from the night before came back ten times worse. Why couldn’t he just be happy?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil stood there frozen for a few seconds before desperately shouting for someone to come help.

He rushed forward to where Patton was laying in a steadily growing pool of blood and tried his best to work out where it was coming from.

There was a crash from somewhere outside and Roman came running into the room. When he spotted Patton he immediately said “Virgil go find Logan while I try to keep pressure on his wounds.”

Virgil nodded and ran out of the room towards Logans room only to slam it open to reveal an empty room. Virgils heart was pounding from running and the panic that Logan had disappeared.

Desperately Virgil ran towards the memory library, shouting Logans name at the top of his voice.

He skidded to a stop as he heard a voice saying his name softly and he struggled to catch his breath while he looked around for the person who’d spoken.

“Virgil, I’m over here.” the voice said again and Virgil ran towards it only to collide with an all to familiar figure.

“No. It… it… it can’t be.” Virgil stammered and Preston laughed.

“did you miss me?” he said with a smug grin and Virgil quickly turned to escape.

“wow, someone’s rude. You planning on running off without greeting an old friend?” Preston said in an offended voice, his hand holding onto Virgils arm tight enough that it would leave a bruise.

Virgil started to struggle “let me go!” he yelled and yanked his arm out of Prestons grip so hard he fell backwards.

“I think you’re forgetting yourself Virgil. You don’t want me to have to punish you now do you?” Preston warned in a dangerously gentle voice.

Virgil gulped but got to his feet and started to run. If he could just get close enough for Roman to hear him then he’d be fine.

He ran to the entrance and just before he could run through it the double doors slammed shut in his face. He didn’t manage to slow down in time and crashed into them at full speed.

He groaned from his position on the floor and put a hand to his forehead where it’d collided with the door.

“anyone would think you want to be punished.” Preston voice said from somewhere out of view and Virgil started shaking.

Preston stepped closer to Virgil with a sadistic smile on his face as he showed Virgil the object in his hands.

He knelt next to where Virgil was laying paralysed by fear and whispered “this is going to hurt me more than it’ll hurt you. Just kidding this is going to be agony for you.”

Virgils eyes widened as the blade was raised and then plunged into his left arm, in the exact place the glass shard had been stabbed. After a few seconds of shock he screamed out at the top of his voice “Roman!”

Preston laughed crazily as blood splashed all over his face and clothes. Oh how he missed this.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roman managed to wrap Pattons arms up and stop the bleeding but Patton was still refusing to respond, muttering under his breath about how he was doomed to be alone.

Roman was getting irritated about how long it was taking Virgil to find Logan and he was about to shout angrily for them when he heard a distant scream that made him freeze in terror.

His immediate instinct was to dash towards the scream but he had an injured Patton to look after.

He looked at Patton and then towards the door, his mind working furiously to try and find a way to help both Patton and whoever had screamed.

Roman quickly lifted Patton, wanting to carry him with him but Patton shrieked “get away from me! None of you care!” and Roman had to put him back down.

Roman felt helpless and tears sprang to his eyes as his creative mind thought up loads of horrible scenarios based around the scream.

He couldn’t tell if it was Logan or Virgil and he honestly didn’t know which one was worse. He thought back to the last thing he’d said to Logan and was overwhelmed by guilt. What if that was the last thing he said to him ever?

The scream came again but this time he could make out words.

“Roman help!”

Roman paced furiously, punching the wall as he realised he had to either abandon Patton or ignore the screams.

Roman was just about to say fuck it and go after the screaming when Patton suddenly said “why is there jam all over the place” and then slumped over unconscious.

Roman cursed and quickly tried to recover the wounds Patton had exposed again. The screaming would have to wait because Patton had lost a lot of blood.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Preston laughed as Virgil tried to scream for help again and placed a blood covered hand over his mouth. “Roman isn’t coming.” he said gleefully.

Virgil started coughing as he choked on the blood and Preston rolled him over onto his front. “can’t have you dying on me just yet. You’re way too much fun.”

Virgil sobbed and gasped for air as he lay on his front, starting to have a panic attack as he realised Roman wasn’t coming.

Preston suddenly grabbed the knife again and sliced open the back of the shirt Virgil was wearing so his back was exposed.

“what a lovely blank canvas.” muttered Preston with a crazed glint in his eyes as he began to trail the tip of the blade across Virgils skin.

Virgil flinched at the contact and cried out in pain as Preston dug it in, carving letters into his back.

“let’s start off by leaving a little reminder of the deal you made, you belong to me now.” Preston said, carving the word ‘mine’ into his left shoulder blade.

Virgil sobs and cries were muffled by the floor and the one thing going through his head was that no one was going to help him out of this.

Preston laughed as he took in his handiwork and then started carving other words. By the time he was done Virgil felt sick from the pain and his vision was blurry.

As Virgils eyelids closed he heard Preston whisper “don’t let on to Roman that I’m back or I’ll kill Patton. Your choice. If he sees these wounds you can’t tell him it was me.”

Preston chuckled as Virgil slumped unconscious and stepped over him to make his way back to the imagination where Logan was waiting. God he loved causing pain.


	6. In Love With A Monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, violence, torture, manipulation

Logan paced inside the tree house waiting for Preston to return. He dreaded what kinds of things he was up to but took a deep breath, trying to reason that maybe he’d changed.

“honey I’m home!” came the call from Preston followed by a snicker and Logan scrambled to peer outside.

“aw, did you miss me Logan?” Preston asked with a grin, ignoring the horror on Logans face at the sight of him covered in blood.

“what…. Who…. Why….?” Logan stammered in shock and horror before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to say “I’m not hugging you or anything until you’re cleaned up.”

Logan didn’t want to think about who had suffered. He’d rather not know and pretend everything was fine. Just like last time. He shuddered as he remembered how many memories he had to rip out so Roman and Patton didn’t remember all the shit Logan had done for Preston.

Preston must have picked up on his thoughts because there was a large sinister grin on his face.

“that never used to bother you.” he muttered getting closer to Logan who found himself backed up into a corner.

“last time I remember you didn’t care how covered in blood either of us were.” Preston was whispering in his ear now making Logan close his eyes.

“that was… Different.” Logan managed to get out but even he could hear how weak that argument was.

Preston chuckled and murmured “I said before you can’t fool me.”

Logan flinched slightly until he felt a pair of lips plant a kiss on his cheek and his eyes opened in shock.

“don’t look so surprised, it’s not like I’ve never done that before.” Preston said rolling his eyes.

Logan shrugged and then remembered why Preston had originally brought him here. “what did you want to show me?” he asked cautiously.

Prestons face lit up as he remembered and he grinned before gesturing to a door Logan was sure hadn’t been there before.

“what’s in there?” he asked and Preston just grinned so he swallowed his nerves and ignored all the instincts screaming at him to make a break for it. He opened the door and walked into a room full of mirrors.

Logan frowned and turned around to ask Preston what it was only to find the door had disappeared. He gulped and turned around shakily to face the mirrors.

“I know you, you’re worried about the others even if it’s a subconscious thing. If you truly want to find out the truth then just say their name but I’ll warn you this once, once you find out there’s no way of forgetting. Ripping up the memories won’t cut it this time.”

Prestons voice came from nowhere and everywhere but he was nowhere to be seen which creeped Logan out.

He thought long and hard about what Preston had said and eventually came to the conclusion that he’d rather know because the not knowing was driving him crazy.

Hesitantly he murmured “Patton Sanders.”

One of the mirrors lit up and he found himself looking at a horrific scene. There was Patton laying on a bed with bloody bandages wrapped around his arms while there seemed to be a large pool of blood on the floor nearby.

Logan quickly said" Roman Sanders" in an attempt to get rid of the image but instead he got a different view of the room.

Roman was trying his hardest to clean up the blood but he looked exhausted and kept throwing worried glances from Patton to the door.

Logan wondered where Virgil was and shuddered as he remembered how covered in blood Preston had been. It couldn’t have been Pattons blood because those wounds looked self inflicted which just left poor Virgil.

Logans voice shook as he spoke Virgils name and he put a hand over his mouth as Virgil appeared.

Virgil was laying face down on the floor passed out in his own blood with a list of words carved into his back which weren’t legible through all the blood.

Logan looked away, knowing that this was Prestons doing and feeling guilty for still loving him.

Logan glanced back at the screen, wishing for Roman to find Virgil but he knew Roman was busy so there was a high likelihood that Virgil might not make it. In turn that meant Thomas would revert back to the reckless moron he’d been before and they’d all eventually die.

Logan then thought about his relationship with Preston. It was pretty one sided or that’s the conclusion he’d come to after Preston left last time but now he wasn’t so sure. Preston had actually mentioned love this time rather than dancing around the word. Logan straightened up his tie and pushed his glasses further up his nose as he struggled to work out what was going on with his emotions.

He’d never been good with emotions and he was terrible at understanding his own emotions even if it was obvious to others.

He suddenly had an idea. He still had his phone in his pocket and if Roman still had his on him then he could tell him exactly where Virgil was.

Logan glanced at the screen again and remembered what Roman had said before about if he kissed Virgil again then he’d kill him. If he came across Virgil like that then there was no question he’d get the blame and Roman would be angry enough to actually kill him.

Logan sighed. He had to choose if saving Virgils life but possibly forfeiting his own was worth it or not and he felt incredibly guilty for hesitating so much. He suddenly got another idea.

Maybe if he called Virgils phone he could manage to wake him up. Logan quickly pulled his phone out and clicked on Virgils name in his contacts. He made sure his number was withheld before he hit the call button because the last thing he needed was questions about why he would call Virgil.

He looked at the screen and was relieved to see something light up and begin buzzing in Virgils pocket. It took about 50 calls but eventually Virgil began to stir and Logan put his phone back in his pocket.

He had no idea how to explain his situation to the others so that would have to do.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Preston stood outside the room with a smirk as he changed his clothes and washed the remaining blood from his skin. He could tell how confused and conflicted Logan was but eventually he was confident that he’d be able to get Logan to do anything for him. It’d be just like old times.

Preston heard Logan calling for him and clicked his fingers so a door would appear again.

As Logan walked out Preston watched him carefully. “you’ve seen what’s happened?” he asked.

Logan nodded and Preston said “it doesn’t change anything though. I can see it in your eyes that despite what you just saw you still love me. The others will most likely try to kill you when they realise you know.”

Logan swallowed nervously, not having thought of that but stayed firm in his decision to stick with Preston. He’d only ever loved one person and the time he’d spent away from Preston had been agony that he never wanted to experience again.

Preston considered Logan with a thoughtful expression. “you would do anything for me right?” he asked and Logan was immediately on alert.

“yes.” he replied quietly, wondering where this was going.

Preston grinned “Great. Go into the real world and keep Thomas from leaving the house today. I mean it’s probably better now that all of the others are preoccupied with other things.”

Logan was confused because he couldn’t think of a reason Thomas staying at home would benefit Preston but he resigned himself to do as he was told. He didn’t want to risk Preston falling into his old habits again.


	7. Unravelling Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: mentions of blood, suicide, manipulation, physical and emotional abuse, implied rape, nightmares, brief mention of alcohol

Virgil opened his eyes as he felt something buzzing in his pocket, his entire body feeling stiff and sticky from laying in his own blood for so long. He managed to shift a hand towards his pocket and grabbed his phone.

He pushed himself up into a sitting position, biting down on his lip to stop himself screaming out in pain, and checked his phone which had now stopped buzzing.

He frowned as he saw loads of missed calls from a withheld number but he ignored that and decided to focus on the bigger issue which was his back.

There was no way he could go back to Roman like this, he needed to clean the blood off himself and change so it didn’t seem suspicious.

He desperately wanted to tell Roman that Preston was back but there was no way he’d risk Pattons life. There was no doubt in his mind that Preston would keep his word about killing Patton.

Virgil stood up on shaky legs and only managed a few steps before he collapsed again. He groaned in pain and clenched his teeth. This was going to be harder than he thought.

He didn’t trust his body to hold up if he were to stand up again so instead he resigned himself to crawl.

It took a while but eventually he managed to crawl towards the double doors and prop himself up enough to open them.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Patton was walking down street after empty street, thick fog making it impossible to see a meter in front of him let alone where he was.

“Patton help me.” came a voice from within the fog.

Patton whirled around searching for the person who spoke.

“Patton please!” the voice was more panicked now and Patton ran in the direction of where he thought it was coming from.

“Patton! Where are you?!” the voice shrieked and Patton felt tears running down his face as he cried out “I’m here, where are you?”

He suddenly found himself in front of a tall building that loomed out of the fog. He glanced around unsure of where the person was.

“Patton! Why didn’t you save me! You were supposed to be a dad and you left me to die!” screamed a voice and Patton looked up to see Virgil at the top of the building.

“Virgil! What are you doing up there? Why don’t you come down?” he shouted, his voice shaking with fear.

Virgil shook his head and replied “I’m up here because of you! You failed!”

Virgil suddenly lent forward and plummeted towards the ground and Patton screamed out in despair and sorrow.

“Patton! Patton! Wake up.” a familiar voice said frantically and Patton sat bolt upright before dissolving into tears.

“it’s all my fault. All my fault.” he sobbed, ignoring the panicked Roman stood next to him. “I’m sorry for failing you Virgil.” he whispered to himself and curled into a ball, still sobbing while Roman watched helplessly.

Patton eventually calmed down enough to realise where he was. “where’s Virgil? Is he OK?” he asked immediately, wanting reassurance after that nightmare.

Roman sighed and looked away as he said “I don’t know where Virgil or Logan are but I did hear someone screaming a while ago. I… I’ve failed. Again.”

With that he broke down into tears and Patton gave him a gentle hug, trying not to knock his bandaged arms. “it’s not your fault. You haven’t failed at all, you were forced into a situation where you couldn’t do anything. If anything it’s my fault.” Patton said in a quiet voice.

Roman opened his mouth to deny it when suddenly he felt his phone vibrating. He reached into his pocket for it then hit himself in the head as he facepalmed. “I am so freaking dumb!” he exclaimed. “I could have phoned or texted Logan and Virgil all this time! Damn it!”

Patton quickly patted his pockets and pulled out his own phone. He read through some unread texts from the previous night and felt tears welling up in his eyes.

Logan might have been drunk but they say a drunk man’s words are a sober man’s thoughts. Patton realised he needed more information and said “how about you go look for Virgil and I’ll go to Logans room in case Logans there or he returns?”

Roman was reluctant to leave Patton alone but Patton said “please, I need to know Virgil is OK. Go find him.”

Roman quickly dashed off and Patton walked towards Logans room, trying not to itch at his arms.

He walked in and immediately approached the desk where stacks of paper and books were piled. Patton disregarded these though as he pulled open the draws and searched inside for the book Logan had texted him about.

He eventually found it and flipped to the centre where a slip of paper was. Patton quickly read the number and put it into Logans computer where it said enter password.

The computer logged him on and he clicked the folder labelled I’m Sorry.

Patton started to read through the word documents until he came across one that had him in tears.

Dear whoever I trust enough to share this information with,  
I hope you don’t judge me too harshly for what I’ve done and I hope you can understand why I’ve done the things I’ve done.

You see it all happened many years ago, Thomas was merely a young thirteen year old at the time and I was still trying to grasp the concept of things like love and affection. I was of no help to Thomas when he wondered about the subject and I was shunted to the back of his mind while the others took the forefront.

I’d never felt so unwanted and unneeded in my life but something went wrong one day, Thomas had a moodswing that the others couldn’t control and suddenly a new figure appeared. No one knew who he was or what his job was but they welcomed him with welcome arms while I watched from the background.

This new trait waited until the others had left before approaching me with a friendly smile.

“what’s a guy like you doing on your own all the way over here?” he asked and I couldn’t hold back a tiny smile as he looked at me with a goofy expression.

I was honest with him and told him how I felt ignored, worthless, useless, like an outcast. He listened to me rant and complain about everything.

After I finished he said the words that would be my doom. “no matter what the others say or do, I will always be here for you. You’re definitely useful and I’ll make you see that.”

It didn’t take long until he began twisting Thomas’s mind but I didn’t notice because I was never needed by the others so stayed in my room most of the time.

One day he knocked on my door and I opened it with a small frown until I realised it was him. He was so nice to me and I got a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever he smiled at me.

I had such a poor understanding of love that I hadn’t realised I’d fallen for him until he planted a kiss on my lips. My legs gave out in shock but he caught me and put me on my bed.

I remember giving him a goofy smile as I said “I think I love you.”

He didn’t respond, he just kissed me again and then left, confusing me even more.

It continued like this for a while until eventually he grew tired of his nice persona and showed his true colours.

I waited eagerly in my room for him but when he came in his face was scary. “what’s wrong?” I asked cautiously.

“the others are just being right dickheads.” he replied and he shoved me backwards. I let out a noise of surprise as I landed on my bed but he didn’t react, he just planted a kiss on my lips as his hands began to wander down.

“what are you doing?” I asked quietly. “I feel like shit and doing this will make me feel better.” he said as he began to undo my top button. I pushed his hands away and backed up, now terrified.

“aw please Logan? I thought… I…. I thought you said you Love me?” he sounded so upset and I was confused. I knew people did that sort of stuff when they were in relationships but I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it. I didn’t feel ready for that sort of thing but i felt bad about how upset he seemed so I foolishly said “I do love you, you can do whatever you want.”

Why I said those words I still don’t know but he immediately brightened up and stripped me of all my clothes.

I’m not going to go into detail but I will say I was in agony the whole time and the only person who enjoyed it was him. I felt dirty and ashamed afterwards but he reassured me that it always hurt the first time and that next time it would be fine.

As time went by I became numb to most pain and he didn’t like that so he kept finding new ways to hurt me but by far his favourite way was to burn me with his cigarettes or cut me while he used me.

I had no clue what Love was so I thought what he was doing was love and I fell for him so hard that even now I still love him.

Despite what he’s done to poor Virgil I still love him. I thought I’d gotten over him but seeing him die in front of me like that made me feel like I’d lost a part of me.

This is why I am leaving this word document. This is my version of a ‘note’. If you’re reading this that means I have gone through with my plan and I will be joining Preston in the afterlife or whatever is next.

I’m sorry for the pain I’ve brought on everyone from all the things I’ve done on his behalf and I’m even more sorry about the memories I’ve removed. As soon as I die you will get those memories back and you will be able to hate me properly. Again I’m sorry but I can’t live without him. I’m in too much pain.

*end of document*

Patton sobbed and sank down into Logans bed. He couldn’t believe how oblivious he’d been to Logans feelings. Usually he was able to pick up on everyones feelings but he’d missed the pain and suffering that Logan obviously felt.

He cursed Preston. Even from beyond the grave he was finding new ways to mess things up.

Patton suddenly frowned. How come Logan hadn’t known Prestons name until when Patton had killed him?

He looked back through the word documents and found a part he’d skipped by accident.

'I didn’t ask his name to begin with because I didn’t think he’d stick with me, then I didn’t ask because I was terrified of what he’d do to me if he thought I was trying to pry.'

Patton wiped his eyes and tried not to think the worst. Everything was fine. Everything would be perfectly fine… Right?


	8. The Truth Is A Dangerous Thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, violence, implied rape, manipulation

Logan appeared in front of Thomas and was alarmed to see him curled up in a ball, his skin paler than normal and dark circles around his eyes.

“Thomas?” Logan asked and Thomas flinched looking around wildly before his eyes locked onto Logan.

“oh, it’s you. Hey Logan.” Thomas muttered his voice quiet and shaky.

“how are you feeling?” Logan asked, already dreading the answer.

“I’m fine.” came the dull reply that Logan knew was a lie. “please Thomas, tell me what’s wrong.” Logan pleaded, stepping closer to Thomas.

Thomas sighed and muttered “there’s nothing wrong, I’m fine. Just a bit tired.”

Logan felt like he wanted to cry, that reply was something he knew both he and Virgil liked to use when they were anything but fine.

He remembered the state the others were in and held back the tears that were welling up. This was all his fault.

Logan mumbled “I think you should just relax today and stay home.”

He went to sink down but stopped. If he went back to the mindspace where would he go? He should probably go back to Preston or he’d be punished but his mind kept wandering to the others.

Before he could come to a final decision Logans phone vibrated. 

It was a text from Patton.

I read through the file you told me to and if your reading this then I want you to know that I don’t blame you for a second. Preston was a master of manipulation and from what you wrote I know that you would have probably stuck by him if he’d succeeded in fooling us all. Love makes you do crazy things and I don’t care about what you did before, I don’t care that you removed memories because I 100% forgive you. I partially blame myself for all this you know. Maybe if I’d paid attention back when Preston first showed up I could have prevented all this and shown you how amazing real love can be. I know you said you want to join Preston in whatever happens when we fade but please reconsider. I wake up with a smile on my face most days just because I get to see you getting excited about something new you’ve found and I go to bed each night knowing that as each day goes by I am falling for you more and more. Because the truth is I love you with all my heart and it would break me to lose you. When I saw you with Virgil it felt like someone had stabbed me in the chest. I understand the situation now but at that point I’d never felt so bad in my life. Just seeing your small smile or hearing your aggravated sigh when I make puns makes each day 10 times better. No matter what you decide to do it won’t change how I feel. I will love you until my heart beats it’s last and even then I doubt my love will truly fade.

Logan could feel tears sliding down his face and had to hold back sobs as Pattons words seemed to lodge in his brain and chest. He’d forgotten about the drunk texts he’d sent Patton instructing him on how to get into his computer files.

He knew Patton had mentioned that he loved him but he’d always thought it was something he said to all of them in a family way.

His hands shook as he debated whether or not to reply. Patton didn’t know about Preston being back which would mean Preston could fool him and hurt him easier.

Logan sighed and decided to just sink down back to his room.

When he rose up in his room he froze in shock. Patton was laying on his bed crying. He hadn’t realised Patton would be here still.

Patton glanced up and gasped. “Logan?” he asked in a shaky voice.

Logan just nodded, unable to find his voice.

Patton launched himself at Logan and enveloped him in a huge hug while chanting “I love you so much please don’t do it.” under his breath.

Logan felt his walls begin to crumble and he hugged back, holding Patton as if he could disappear at any second.

“I… I’m sorry.” Logan managed to sob but was cut off as Patton placed a soft sweet kiss on his lips.

“Don’t, I’ve already forgiven you so there’s no need to apologise.” Patton murmured with a sad smile.

Logans knees buckled and he sank onto his bed with a small whimper. “But… But…”

Patton shook his head and whispered “whatever you did or didn’t do is in the past and it won’t ever change how I feel about you.”

Logan was absolutely stunned. He couldn’t help but compare this to Preston.

Preston was demanding and forceful with his kisses and there was always some sort of reason behind it and Logan wasn’t sure if he’d ever been held as lovingly as Patton was currently doing.

He took a few breaths to calm himself down, absently taking note of the smell of cookies that always seemed to surround Patton, and decided he couldn’t let Patton be blind to the danger of Preston.

“Prestons back.” he got out and closed his eyes, expecting Patton to react badly but all he got was a quiet “I did have my suspicions.”

Logan pulled back and looked at Patton with a look of confusion and shock. “what? How?” he managed to say.

Patton grimaced “considering Roman heard someone who I’m assuming to be Virgil scream I kind of thought that either he’d come across… You. Or somehow someone else had attacked him.” Pattons voice broke slightly as he spoke and he tried to push away the thought of Logans body being discovered by Virgil.

Logan sat in silence for a bit until he muttered “I saw what He did to Virgil or rather the end result. I… I feel so guilty for just allowing him to do all this.” Logan put his head in his hands.

With a small sigh Patton hugged Logan and murmured “This isn’t your fault. He’s violent and there’s not really much you could do to stop him.”

Suddenly the room went dark and Logan held onto Patton tighter in fear. The room started to shake ever so slightly but as soon as it started it stopped and the room was back to being as bright as before.

“What was..?” Logan started to say but Patton cut him off, his face pale. “Prestons trying to get through to Thomas. If he managed to get to Thomas at this point, there’s no telling how much damage he could do.”

Logan gulped and stood up. “I… We have to warn Roman then. I don’t know if Virgil knows about Preston but if he does I doubt he’ll say anything and we can’t leave Roman so unaware.” he said in a shaky but determined voice.

Patton stood up to and smiled encouragingly, his face still pale. “Let’s go then. That way we’re all on our guard.” he said and opened the door of Logans room.

Logan followed, taking deep breaths to stop himself freaking out. This was a dangerous game because as soon as Preston found out Logan had done this he’d be in a world of pain but Logan had grown closer to the other traits since Preston had last been here and he couldn’t stand on the sidelines watching anymore.

They checked for Roman in a few rooms until they found themselves staring at a trail of blood leading from the memory library and down the corridor.

Logan immediately knew it belonged to Virgil and sighed. “Virgil was bleeding really badly and I think maybe Roman followed this trail so we should probably do so too.”

Patton nodded, tears running down his face as they continued walking.

Finally they came to a stop outside a door and Patton opened it.

Inside they saw Virgil sitting slumped on the floor as Roman sat cleaning the blood up and had a first aid kit next to him so he could stitch up the wounds.

When the door opened Roman glanced up and saw the tear stained, worried faces of Patton and Logan.

He let out a small sigh of relief as he noticed they seemed uninjured and said “thank god your both OK, I found Virgil passed out in front of the door and I couldn’t see him breathing so I panicked but he’s OK now. Well as good as he can be.”

Logan and Patton closed the door behind them and sat down next to to Roman and Virgil.

“Prestons back.” Logan said as Patton started to help Roman stitch up the wounds on Virgils back.

Romans face darkened as he muttered “I knew something wasn’t right. Virgil wouldn’t have been able to do this to himself and I couldn’t think of anyone who would do this except him but he faded so I thought maybe there was someone new to worry about.”

Logan shook his head “No it’s definitely Preston and that earthquake like thing earlier was him trying to get at Thomas.”

Romans face paled at that and went to reply when a quiet voice interrupted him.

“He’s not getting at Thomas while I’m around.”

They all looked at Virgil in shock as his eyes flickered open and a look of determination spread across his face.

“it’s my job to protect Thomas from things like Preston and I’m not failing again.” he muttered.

Pattons face had a small smile on it as he said “We’ll all stand together against him and he won’t be able to get at Thomas.”

Roman nodded and they all turned to Logan who seemed to be having a war with himself.

“Logan? What do you have to say about all this?” Patton asked.

“He hasn’t got anything to say, have you Logan?” a familiar voice growled from the doorway and they all spun around to see the intimidating figure of Preston leaning against the doorframe.

Logans eyes went wide in fear and he began to shake.

Preston looked around at them all with an arrogant smile “Well isn’t this a fun little get together, all of you sitting around discussing how to beat me and you didn’t even invite me. If you had I could have told you that that’s impossible.”

He took a step forward laughing at how Patton and Roman stood up to face him while Logan seemed to flinch backwards, trying to blend in with the background.

Virgil remembered what Logan said while he was drunk and looked between him and Preston with a look of understanding.

“It’s not impossible! You’re not invincible and we will find a way to make you fade permanently this time!” Roman snarled taking a step closer with his hands curled into fists.

Patton pulled Roman back before turning to face Preston with a scowl and his arms crossed.

Preston let out a cruel laugh as he said “That would be more threatening if I didn’t know that only 2 of you are up to going against me.”

Roman took a glance behind him at where Virgil lay injured and Logan sat shivering on the verge of a breakdown.

Patton let out a noise of irritation and spat “How about you shut your trap and leave Thomas alone. No one here wants you here and there’s very little you can do with us all banded against you.”

Preston smirked nastily as he said “You say that but we both know Logan isn’t really on your side. Isn’t that right Logan?”

Logan flinched at being addressed by Preston and trembled as he shook his head.

Preston glared at Logan as he spoke in a voice promising pain. “Logan, darling, come here and show them what I mean or I’ll have to punish you.”

Logan whimpered and slowly edged forwards trying to ignore the eyes of the others.

“that’s it, now stand up.” Preston said as if talking to a child, enjoying the looks or horror and disappointment on the others faces.

Logan pushed himself to his feet, his legs shaking as if they were about to give way at any moment, and shuffled forward, his eyes locked on the floor.

As soon as Logan was close enough Preston grabbed him by the arm and dragged him forward. “That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” he asked in a mocking tone.

Logan closed his eyes at the painful grip on his arm and a few tears ran down his face.

Roman looked confused and angry as he didn’t know what was going on but Patton and Virgil had knowing looks in their eyes.

Preston smirked victoriously “Now you see why defeating me is impossible. My dear little Logan has no desire to see me dead so you shall never be rid of me.” to hammer this point home he pulled Logan in for a rough, violent kiss.

Pattons face darkened considerably and he stepped forwards with a growl “Get your filthy hands off him!”

Preston looked at Patton with a grin. “Jealousy isn’t a good look for you Patton, green is definitely not your colour. Maybe red would be better.” as he said this he swung a fist which hit Patton in the face.

Patton cried out in pain as blood began trickling from his lip and Logan let out a small yelp.

Preston rolled his eyes and shoved Logan into the wall while stepping closer to Patton.

Patton glared at Preston, not caring about the blood trickling down his chin.

Roman moved forward to help Patton but Patton snarled “I’ve got him, you protect the others.”

Roman hesitated before moving back to stand in front of Virgil which made Preston laugh. “See Logan? What did I say? None of them care for you, I’m the only person who understands and cares about you here.”

Logan felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice cold water on him until he caught Pattons eye.

Despite the blood trickling from his mouth Patton had a small reassuring smile on his face and even Preston could see the look of utter love in his eyes.

Logan glanced at the other two and was surprised to see concern and sadness on their faces.

When he risked a look at Preston he felt a wave of doubt wash over him. Why did he love Preston again? What was there about Preston that made him feel like that?

Preston was unaware of the thoughts swirling through Logans brain and he grabbed Patton by the collar. “it seems you never learn Patton. Logan doesn’t return your feelings and he never will. You’re pathetic and can never have Logan, no matter what.” Prestons voice was smug and confident. “and even if there was the smallest chance, he’s already tainted. You would never be able to have him as I did without thinking about how I got to him first. He’s just my sloppy seconds.”

Pattons expression twisted into a look of pure hate as he lunged at Preston.

His fists collided with Prestons chest but Preston just shook it off and pushed Patton away, a taunting grin on his face.

Roman looked gobsmacked at what Preston was implying and glanced over at where Logan stood.

The logical trait let out a small sob and glanced at Preston with terror and regret on his face. He felt dirty and horrified about what had happened and now everyone knew.

Virgil had a scowl on his face as he struggled to his feet, barely noticing the pain in his back as his eyes locked onto Preston.

Preston laughed and walked back over to Logan. “not that this wasn’t fun but I have places to go, people to punish and blood to spill so I’ll be seeing you later.” with that he latched onto a terrified Logan and disappeared.

Patton stood staring at the place where Logan had been, tears flowing down his face endlessly.

Virgil took a few shaky steps forwards and hugged Patton, his thoughts wild as he tried to think of a way to save Logan.

Roman remained where he was, too stunned to really do anything until Pattons voice broke the silence.

“I failed him.” came the whisper and Roman joined Virgil in hugging Patton. “No you didn’t, we’ll get him back and put an end to Preston once and for all.” he said comfortingly.

“and I for one will not stop until we find a way to rescue Logan. No one deserves what he’s been through and Preston will pay for what he’s done. That’s a promise.” Virgil said spitting Prestons name in disgust.


	9. No Other Choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: mentions of blood, violence, abuse, manipulation, vomiting, implied rape, mentions of character death

As soon as Preston had grabbed him Logan knew he was going to be put through hell so when they teleported back to the tree house he was expecting the punches.

He managed to duck the first few but this just made Preston angrier.

“stand fucking still!” he snarled and launched a kick at Logan that caught him in the stomach.

Logan crumpled over clutching his stomach unable to stop the assault of hits and kicks that reigned down on him.

After a while Preston stopped and looked down at Logans battered form with a sneer. “What did you think you were doing? Running back to those who abandoned you because they fooled you into thinking they cared?”

Logan coughed “but they do…” before Preston kicked him angrily.

“No they don’t! They lied to you. They’re lying about loving you so they can use you for their own purposes and when they’re done they’ll leave you all alone again until you grow tired of living life as an outcast.” Prestons words seeped into Logans mind and started to take root but something else seemed to wake up.

“but… Isn’t that…” Logan started to say but was cut off as he suddenly retched, bringing up an alarming amount of blood.

Preston scowled at the mess before dragging Logan out onto the balcony by his foot so if he puked again it could just be swept off.

Logan was starting to feel tired as he lay on his front but he fought to stay awake. “Isn’t that what you’re doing to me?” he asked in as steady a voice as he could manage.

Preston froze in surprise before crouching down next time to him his voice turning soft and soothing. “Of course not Logan, I love you, why would I do anything like that to you? I’m only trying to save you from the others.”

Preston put a hand on Logans cheek and caressed it with a surprising amount of gentleness while the other one rubbed his back.

Logan shut his eyes at the touch and started to once again doubt himself but suddenly he remembered how it’d been when Patton had hugged him and he felt a surge of confidence.

“if you love me, why do you hurt me?” he asked opening his eyes to look Preston in the eyes.

Preston tilted his head and his mouth turned up into a huge smile. “Because it makes you stronger. If I hadn’t hurt you, you wouldn’t be able to deal with any of the insults the others throw at you. I do it for your own good.”

Logan frowned in confusion and opened his mouth to say something but Preston silenced him with a kiss.

Logan couldn’t help but recoil from the kiss slightly. It felt horrible after the soft kiss he’d shared with Patton.

Preston noticed this reaction and pulled back in confusion. “Logan? What’s wrong?” he asked in a soft voice that both relaxed and scared him.

Logan looked at the wood in front of him, avoiding Prestons eyes and therefore missing the sly smirk.

Preston pulled Logan into a sitting position so he was leaning against the outside of the tree house. “C'mon Logan, why don’t you want to kiss me? Do you not love me anymore?”

Prestons voice wavered towards the end as if he were about to cry and when Logan looked at him he was shocked to see tears welling up in his eyes.

Preston was impressed with himself as he forced himself to start sobbing. He’d always been a good actor but it seemed like he’d gotten better.

Logan had no idea how to react to Preston suddenly sobbing next to him. This wasn’t what normally happened. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Preston cry before.

“Preston? Please don’t cry.” Logan said unable to hide the shock and panic in his voice.

Preston continued to sob and Logan couldn’t help the guilt as Preston gasped out “I just wanted to protect you but they’ve turned you against me and you don’t love me anymore.”

Logan blurted out “But I do love you Preston!” but it didn’t appear to help.

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better, you don’t actually mean it.” Preston cried and Logan couldn’t think of anything to say.

They sat there for a while, the only sounds being Prestons sobs, until, in a moment of panic, Logan decided to plant a kiss on Prestons lips to see if that would help.

Preston seemed to freeze in shock, stopping mid sob before he responded kissing Logan back forcefully.

Logan felt Prestons hands running through his hair and shuddered but didn’t pull away, not wanting to set Preston off crying again.

Preston suddenly pushed Logan back so he was laying on the floor and straddled him, their lips still locked.

Logan felt a jolt of panic and pulled away only to be met with the tear streaked face of Preston. “Please Logan? I need to know you’re telling the truth, that your not lying when you say you love me.”

Logan knew that he didn’t want this, that he should say no, that this wasn’t how people proved they loved each other, but looking into Prestons wide teary eyes he couldn’t seem to find his voice.

Preston seemed to take his continued silence as permission and locked their lips together again, his hands wandering under his shirt.

Logan closed his eyes and held back a fearful whimper as Prestons hands began to tug off his clothes. He really didn’t want to do this but it was too late to say no so he just let it happen.

Logan couldn’t stop tears from running down his face as he remembered all the other times this happened and he tried to convince himself this time was different. That Preston wasn’t just using him this time, he actually cared.

Preston had a grin of triumph on his face as Logan just lay there with his eyes screwed shut. He’d really outdone himself this time and he thought he deserved this as a reward for overcoming all the obstacles so far.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil sat in the lounge with a frown on his face as he tried to think up a plan. Roman was busy trying to reassure Patton so he felt a bit pressured to think something up.

Virgil let out a small sigh before realising he hadn’t checked on Thomas in a while so with nothing else to do Virgil decided to do just that.

Virgil appeared next to Thomas who was curled up under his duvet.

“Thomas?” he asked cautiously and the duvet moved ever so slightly that Thomas’s face was visible.

“hey Virgil.” Thomas mumbled in a croaky voice and Virgil felt his anger rising but managed to calm himself so Thomas didn’t notice.

“Why are you in bed Thomas?” he asked taking in the dark bags under Thomas’s eyes which indicated he hadn’t been sleeping properly.

“I was trying to sleep because I feel so exhausted but I… I can’t sleep. And when I can I get these horrible nightmares.” Thomas’s voice shook with fear as he mentioned the nightmares and Virgil wondered which one of the sides was responsible for them.

“Well spending all day in bed isn’t helping you or anyone. Get up and have a shower and then either make yourself something to eat or order a takeaway. You need to look after yourself.” Virgil said in a firm voice, using his loud heightened voice to make Thomas listen to him.

Thomas jumped and scrambled out of bed towards the bathroom where Virgil could hear the sound of the shower.

As he waited Virgils mind wandered back to their problem with Preston. Preston didn’t have enough of a foothold or power to fully materialise himself to Thomas yet but it would probably only be a matter of time.

If Preston managed to get enough power he could make Thomas listen to him like Virgil did and that would be disastrous.

The sound of the shower cut off and Thomas emerged looking slightly better in a set of clean clothes.

Virgil carefully followed Thomas downstairs to the kitchen where he watched him make himself a bowl of cereal and sit on the couch munching away.

A thought suddenly struck Virgil. He could use his heightened voice to make Thomas do stuff so depending on if Thomas had the ability or not he could make Thomas summon Logan.

Virgil felt happy for a few seconds until he had another thought. What if Thomas couldn’t do that? What then? Or worse, what if Thomas could do it but Logan didn’t want to be saved?

Virgil scowled at the floor trying to work out something else.

Thomas finished his cereal and put the bowl on the table with a soft sigh his eyes drifting over to where Virgil stood.

“Thank you Virgil.” Thomas said with a small smile making Virgil look at him in surprise.

“Huh?” Virgil responded and felt his face heat up as Thomas smiled and said “thank you for jolting me out of my weird state and making me actually look after myself.”

Virgil shrugged and muttered “yeah whatever, it was necessary.”

Thomas looked at Virgil with a small frown before asking “What’s going on?”

Virgils eyes widened and he blurted out “nothing.” way too quickly for Thomas to believe him.

“Virgil, please just tell me. I want to know why I’ve been feeling so hopeless and exhausted for no reason. I try and do things I enjoy but I feel so drained and it takes so much effort just to get out of bed. I feel like everything is just pointless but I don’t know why I think that. So please tell me.” Thomas’s eyes welled up with tears as he pleaded with Virgil and Virgil let out a sad sigh, sitting down next to Thomas.

“The thing is Preston is back. I don’t know how much you were told about him but he’s the embodiment of depression and he is bad news. As it turns out this isn’t the first time he’s popped up.  
Ages ago before I even existed he popped up and started creating havoc. I only know the basics as I wasn’t there and I only have the information Pattons given me but he managed to get his hooks into Logan.  
Logan probably didn’t feel as close to the others back then as both Patton and Roman are highly emotional and tend not to see reality as much as him. Anyway Preston managed to cut Logan off from the others by manipulating him emotionally and I have my suspicions as to what exactly happened to Logan but none of them are pleasant.  
Anyway as you’ve already been told he came back a while ago and managed to get to me which didn’t particularly work out for anyone because although Patton managed to stop him you’d already caused a bit of damage to the others by acting reckless due to my absence.  
Preston somehow managed to find a way back and he was very sneaky about it this time but he managed to get his hooks back into Logan and the others are worried about how to save Logan and defeat Preston because nothing they could think of will work.” Virgil explained while a Thomas sat taking everything in.

“So the reason I’ve been so unlike myself is because you guys are all out of sorts and this Preston guy is messing with Logan?” he asked with a small frown.

Virgil sighed and nodded. “I’ve been trying to think of some way to save Logan and defeat Preston for the last few hours or so but nothing good has come to mind.”

Thomas and Virgil sat in silence for a few minutes before Virgil muttered “although there is one option.”

Thomas quickly perked up at this “What? What is it?”

Virgil sighed and gave Thomas a serious look “You could go to the doctors and see if they could give you antidepressants.”

Thomas thought this over for a second before a look of horror flashed across his face. “but, they’ll affect you too, won’t they?” he asked worriedly.

Virgil closed his eyes and nodded. “that’s more than likely but if it gets rid of Preston then it’s worth it.”

Thomas spluttered in disbelief. “But if I lose you then it’s not worth it at all! I don’t want to lose any of you guys!”

Virgil opened his eyes a grim look of determination on his face “It’s either you get rid of Preston and possibly lose me or you sit around wasting away while Preston grows stronger and stronger. When he’s strong enough he’ll probably kill us all anyway so what choice do you really have?”

“but… But…” Thomas tried to argue but Virgil took a deep breath and used his heightened voice “Thomas you will go to the doctors and you will have them assess you for depression and then take the antidepressants whether you like it or not!”

Thomas flinched and tears ran down his face “I don’t want to.” he choked out and Virgil felt his own eyes welling up as he whispered “I know, but it’s the only way.”

Thomas’s hand trembled as he reached for his phone and dialled the number of the doctors to arrange an appointment. He was in luck as they had a free time slot for later that evening.

When he finished his phone call he looked around for Virgil only to find him gone. With a sad sniffle Thomas curled up on the sofa and put something random on the TV to try and keep his mind preoccupied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Patton sat staring into space barely acknowledging Roman who was sitting next to him rubbing his back in a comforting manner.

He’d thought for one happy moment that he’d managed to get Logan back and then He showed up and ruined everything taking poor Logan with him.

Patton screwed his eyes shut and put his head in his hands as he tried not to think about what Logan might be going through at the moment. After reading that document on Logans computer and hearing what Preston had said about Logan being his ‘sloppy seconds’ he knew there was nothing Preston wouldn’t do to punish Logan and that thought made him sick.

Roman barely managed to move out of the way as Patton vomited violently.

When Patton had finished being sick he curled up in a tight ball and started crying for what felt like the hundredth time.

Roman sat next to him trying his best to comfort him but couldn’t get Patton to calm down.

Romans own thoughts weren’t helping. He had a very vivid imagination which he used to create wonderful ideas for Thomas but it had now become a curse.

Everytime he blinked he would see the broken bodies of the others. Logan laying bloody and bruised at the feet of a triumphant Preston, Patton laying in a heap surrounded by blood pouring from a gaping hole in his chest, Thomas laying still and unmoving, his face still streaked with tears. And of course Virgil slumped against the wall a look of utter agony still twisted on his face, blood splattered everywhere and his limbs at odd angles.

Roman barely noticed he was sobbing hysterically until Patton whispered “We can do this. We will defeat Preston and save Logan if its the last thing we do.”

Roman took a few minutes to collect himself, taking stuttering gasps of breath and closing his eyes.

Eventually he said “I know but I can’t help but dread losing you all.”

Patton gave him an understanding look and said “I know but that’s not going to happen. We’ll all make it through this and become stronger.”

Unbeknownst to the two of them Virgil was stood outside the door listening. He’d just been about to inform them of his plan but they sounded so happy and determined that he couldn’t bring himself to ruin it.

With a sigh Virgil lowered the hand which had been about to open the door. They’d probably try and stop him now he thought about it.

Yeah, he was going to keep this quiet and just hope they’d understand.

There was no other choice.


	10. Attempted Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: mentions of blood, implied rape, torture, manipulation, violence, brief mention of vomit, abuse

White hot pain. That’s the first thing that registered in Logans mind when he woke up. His entire body ached as if he’d been run over by a truck.

He opened his eyes, reached for his glasses with a pained wince and inhaled sharply at the angry red marks, scratches and cigarette burns that littered his body.

Hot tears ran down his cheeks as he took note of each one, some barely visible due to the ugly purple and black bruises that covered his body. Most of the bruises were from the vicious beating he received after getting back to the tree house.

He turned his head and noticed Preston had already left. He didn’t know whether to be happy or not about that.

Logan had put off sitting up for as long as he could but he needed to get up so he grit his teeth and tried to push himself up.

Logan paled from the pain and bit down on his lip to hold back a scream so hard that blood filled his mouth.

He dared a glance down at the bed, which he vaguely remembered Preston dragging him to, and gagged at the bloodstained sheets.

Logans shoulders shook as he held back his sobs. He should have known he was being used but Preston was always so convincing and Logan was foolish enough to believe him.

Feeling vulnerable in his naked state Logan glanced around for his clothes and was relieved to see them draped over a chair.

With a deep breath and pure determination Logan managed to stand up and hobble over to his clothes.

He felt dizzy and lightheaded but put his clothes on as fast as he could, not wanting Preston to walk in and have the idea of continuing.

As he was pulling his trousers on he felt a solid lump in one of the pockets.

He reached in and held back a noise of relief as he realised it was his phone.

He slipped it back into his pocket and quickly tied his tie before walking slowly and painfully over to the door.

He found himself on the balcony again and held back vomit as he noticed the pool of blood which must have been from him.

He leaned against the railing, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down.

“Hey Logan, darling, I had so much fun.” A familiar voice said in a cheery tone.

Logan turned around slowly to see Preston leaning against the wall of the tree house, twirling a knife coated in dried blood.

“uh…. Um…” Logan spluttered his eyes locked warily on the knife.

Preston looked at Logan in amusement noticing where he was looking. “Don’t worry baby, I’m not going to hurt you. Unless of course you want me to.” Preston smirked as Logan shook his head frantically.

“that’s too bad, I enjoyed marking you as mine.” Prestons eyes gleamed and Logan began to feel uneasy.

“What do you mean?” he asked in a hoarse voice, wincing at how raw his throat felt.

Preston grinned “I mean you were begging for me to mark you as mine so I did, you have a lovely little carving on your left hip. I’m surprised you didn’t see it.”

Logan tried to wrack his brains and remember if he’d actually asked for that but all he could remember was screaming in pain, occasionally begging for Preston to stop.

Logan felt bile rising up again but pushed it down as Preston stepped closer, still twirling the knife.

“speaking of that mark, I want to see how it turned out.” Preston said in a casual tone as if he were discussing the weather.

Logan flinched backwards as Prestons hands tugged the hem of his shirt up but there was nowhere to go so he stood there quivering.

Preston was admiring the large angry wound on Logans left hip with a smug smirk. “When that heals it will become a lovely little scar to remind you and everyone else who you belong to.” He said in a satisfied tone.

Preston turned and walked back into the tree house, leaving Logan to silently cry.

After a few minutes Logan remembered his phone and pulled it out.

He wondered how he could talk to the others without Preston noticing. His usually fast mind seemed to be at a standstill.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roman woke up from a vivid nightmare, his heart pounding as he searched around himself just in case.

A small sigh left his lips as he noticed Patton curled up next to him. They’d fallen asleep from emotional exhaustion and Roman didn’t want to wake him so he quietly crept out of the room.

He walked towards the lounge where he thought he’d find Virgil only to find it empty.

Roman frowned in slight concern until a voice from behind him asked “Where’s Patton?”

Roman spun around and relaxed at the sight of Virgil before replying “He’s asleep but he was so exhausted I didn’t want to wake him up.”

Virgil nodded, trying to bite back a yawn as his own exhaustion began to kick in.

“You should probably get some rest too, your back still needs to heal more and walking around constantly could make it worse.” Roman said.

Virgil looked torn. “If we’re all asleep we’re going to be vulnerable. What happens if Preston decides to pop up again?” he asked half wanting to sleep but half wanting to stay awake.

“who said anything about all of us being asleep?” Roman said with a small smile “I just woke up so I’m not particularly tired. I don’t mind staying awake just in case Preston decides to visit.”

Virgil still looked reluctant as if he was going to continue to argue but Roman sighed and spoken in a serious voice. “Virgil get some sleep I won’t let anything happen to you or Patton. You can’t fight against Preston if you’re falling asleep on your feet.”

Virgil rolled his eyes and muttered “Fine, but if anything happens you have to wake me and Patton.”

Roman grinned “I promise.”

Virgil turned and headed towards Pattons room, not wanting to go back to his own for obvious reasons.

Roman sat on the couch for about half an hour until he began to get restless. He stood up and walked around for a bit which kind of helped but he still felt the need to fidget.

He decided to take a walk around the mindspace and through the imagination forest to try and calm himself. He needed to be doing something or he’d end up doing something reckless.

Roman checked in on Patton and Virgil before he started and a smile came to his lips at the sight of both of them curled up together.

He silently closed the door and headed towards the imagination forest. It had been a while since he’d walked through it because of everything that had happened but he remembered how he used to make a routine of it.

The imagination forest was the best for helping Roman calm his busy thoughts and work out how best to deal with difficult situations.

Roman was walking through the very heart of the forest when he stopped and listened for a second. He thought he’d heard a scream but it could have been one of the many animals that lived in the forest, some of them being weird hybrids.

Roman started walking again only to freeze in horror as this time he heard the scream again but he could make out words.

“Stop! Please!”

It sent chills down Romans spine and he crept closer to the source. He came to a clearing where a dark puddle had formed.

As he was watching something dripped into the puddle making Roman look up and have to clap a hand over his mouth to stop himself making a noise of horror.

Blood was dripping from what appeared to be a tree house at a steady rate and he could make out familiar sounding sobs.

Roman realised he’d found Logan and Preston and barely had time to think about he was doing as he started walking towards the ladder, his katana materialising on his hip.

Logan lay on the balcony sobbing in pain as the mark on his hip bled freely. He’d tried to use some of his ability to heal the wound so it wouldn’t become a permanent scar but Preston had found out and decided to carve it deeper as punishment.

Logan managed to shakily push himself up and pulled out his phone. He needed to tell the others where he was because he wasn’t sure how much of this he could take.

He quickly sent a group text so they’d all get it saying I’m in the imagination forest in a tree house, Prestons with me but doesn’t know I have my phone with me so don’t reply or he’ll find out. I don’t know how long I can do this so if you want to rescue me, despite everything, then you need to hurry.

Romans phone vibrated and he quickly fished it out and read through the text with a clenched jaw. He closed his eyes and willed himself to appear in the tree house.

He was the creative side so he could control some aspects of the imagination which he wished he’d remembered sooner.

He crept round the corner and noticed a bruised and battered looking Logan with blood splattering his usually immaculate clothes.

The image was so close to what he’d imagined before when all of the others were dead that Roman almost teared up but fought it down and focused on his anger towards Preston.

He stepped closer and whispered “Logan, its me.”

Logans head quickly snapped up and a look of relief and disbelief flashed across his face. “But I only just sent the text and why would you still want to rescue me?” he asked in a hushed voice.

Roman glanced around for Preston and when he didn’t see him he crouched down and started to lift Logan to his feet. “We can talk about all this later but right now we’ve got to get out of here.”

Romans words seemed to register because Logan nodded and tried his best to ignore the pain as he was half carried towards the ladder.

Roman stopped and whispered “I’m going to teleport us to the ground but it might put pressure on some of your injuries so try to keep quiet.”

Logan nodded and closed his eyes and bit down on his lip bracing himself for the pain.

Roman teleported them down to the forest floor and Logan managed to hold back a scream with great difficulty but his legs buckled under him.

“do you think you can walk?” Roman asked in concern and Logan nodded.

“yes, I just need a minute.” Logan breathed out, trying to push away the pain.

Eventually he struggled to his feet and Roman pulled one of Logans arms over his shoulders to help take some of the weight off of his injured legs as they began the slow journey out of the imagination forest.

As they were reaching another clearing they heard someone clapping and froze.

“Well done, that was quite the rescue and you almost pulled it off too.” Preston appeared from behind a tree, a mocking smile on his face.

Roman positioned himself in front of Logan protectively and glared at Preston.

Preston smirked at this and said “Just because you’re standing in front of him doesn’t mean I can’t get him. Your not the only one who can control aspects of the imagination.”

With that Preston teleported closer to prove his claim.

Roman growled “you’ll still have to go through me to get him.”

Preston grinned cruelly at Romans choice of words. “Oh I plan to.”

With that Preston teleported and lunged for Roman but Roman managed to sense where he was going to appear and quickly dodged him.

Roman tugged his katana free of its sheath and swung at Preston who laughed and managed to produce a tree in front of him to block the blow.

Logan stood off to the side unsure what to do until he had a thought. As beaten and physically useless as he was Logan could still use his abilities. He quickly set about trying to heal the most painful injuries before turning back to the fight.

His other ability was his ability to send thoughts into other people’s minds. He occasionally used this to share things he’d researched when he was too tired to explain it.

He quickly focused on one of his painful memories and pushed it towards Preston in the hope it would hinder him long enough for Roman to get him.

At first it seemed to work, Preston stumbled with wide eyes and made a gasping noise but he quickly recovered, his eyes narrowing and his dark eyes locking onto Logan.

Preston seemed to suddenly gain more strength as he shoved Roman away and stormed over to Logan, teleporting when Roman tried to tackle him.

Preston was just about to grab hold of Logan when Roman also seemed to gain more strength and he tackled Preston from the side, sending them both rolling across the forest floor.

They both stood up glaring at each other until Roman called his katana back to him and a long blade of some sort appeared in Preston hands.

The two fought for ages trying every trick they could to gain an advantage, teleporting, taunting each other and trying to catch each other off balance.

Suddenly Preston teleported behind Roman and hooked his leg so Roman found himself on his back which made him let out a small yelp of surprise.

Preston smirked and quickly raised his sword before plunging it down, relishing in the terrified scream coming from Logan.


	11. Everything Starts To Fall Into Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Violence, mentions of blood

Thomas walked back into his apartment and collapsed on the couch, tears running down his face as he pulled out the receipt he’d been given.

The doctor had organised for the antidepressants to be delivered to him in the next couple of days which had thoroughly shocked him because he’d been under the impression it took weeks, months and even years for people to get diagnosed let alone medicated.

This worked out great for dealing with Preston though. In only a few days they’d be rid of him.

Thomas sobbed slightly as he tried to push away the thought of Virgil also being affected. He guessed the others were probably on board with it though as they hadn’t come to give him any other ways of dealing with this and he should probably just come to terms with the idea of Virgil not being around.

He managed to compose himself for a few seconds before dissolving into tears again.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Patton sat bolt upright as he woke up to the sound of his phone going off.

He looked around and grabbed it off his bedside table frantically. He recognised the message tone as the one he’d set for Logan.

He opened the message and grit his teeth in anger. He wasn’t going to let Preston do this anymore, he had to do something.

He kicked off the duvet and walked out of his room towards the lounge to try and find one of the others.

He found Virgil pacing and muttering under his breath.

“Virgil?” Patton asked, slightly alarmed by the sudden flinch and guilty expression that flashed across Virgils face for a second.

“Oh, hey Patton. I didn’t hear you come out.” Virgil said, pushing the thought of the conversation he’d had with Thomas to the back of his mind for now.

Patton quickly remembered the text from Logan and told Virgil.

“So we need to find Roman and get him now.” Patton concluded.

Virgil sighed and wiped a hand down his face as he said “I don’t know where Roman is.”

Patton frowned before saying “then it’s down to us two.”

Virgil looked at Patton in surprise but quickly set his face into a determined expression. “OK let’s go.”

The two of them quickly headed towards the imagination forest, trying to think of a way to stop Preston from noticing them.

As they stepped further into the forest they could hear the sound of swords clanging against each other.

They glanced at each other and quickly made their way to where they heard it from, starting to run as they heard a yelp.

They caught sight of a clearing as a scream rang out, sending chills down their spines.

They burst into the clearing in time to see Preston stab a sword down into Roman while Logan screamed.

Patton took one look at this scene and let out a growl of anger, ready to hurl himself towards Preston but was pushed aside by the enraged form of Virgil.

Virgil tackled Preston, knocking the sword from his hands and sending both of them to the floor.

Preston grinned up at Virgil who had him pinned to the floor and taunted “Looks like you recovered from our little reunion, I wonder how long it’ll take for Roman to…”

Prestons taunt was interrupted by Virgils arm being pressed painfully into his throat.

“shut the fuck up!” Virgil snarled.

Preston smirked and tried to teleport only to find he couldn’t. His expression went from a smirk to a confused frown.

Virgils teeth were grit together as he focused on keeping Preston in place. He was ready to do this until Thomas managed to get antidepressants.

Patton saw Virgil had Preston under control and rushed over to where Roman lay.

Romans eyes flickered open as he heard Pattons voice and he winced at the pain radiating through his chest. He glanced down and noticed blood soaking through his clothes.

“Roman? Can you hear me?” Patton asked in a shaky voice, occasionally shooting a glance over to where Virgil and Preston were.

“Yeah…. Don’t…. Worry… I’m… Fine… Patton.” Roman managed to pant. “I’m wearing….. Armour… Underneath… So… It could have….. Been worse…”

Patton let out a small sob as he put pressure on the wound with shaking hands. He hated that everyone was getting hurt and he was starting to feel like he was at breaking point.

Suddenly a set of hands were placed over his and he looked up to see Logan who gave him a reassuring smile.

Patton looked down at Roman and gasped as he remembered Logans ability to heal.

Romans breathing became less laboured and he gave Logan a grateful smile.

Logan muttered “I’ve stopped the bleeding and he should be OK in half an hour or so.”

Although he was still sore and bruised Logan pushed himself to his feet and limped over to where Virgil had Preston.

“Stay back Logan. I don’t want you to get hurt anymore than you already have been.” Virgil shouted, sensing Logans approach.

Preston was struggling, trying to push Virgil off him but it was as if someone had blocked off his abilities because he couldn’t do anything except use his physical strength and he was getting quite aggravated by that.

Logan stopped at a distance, silent tears running down his face as he looked at Preston. “Why? Why did you do all this?” he asked in a shaky voice.

Preston stopped struggling and laughed “Because it’s fun? You know better than anyone how it feels to see someone doing anything they can to keep you happy. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten all the hell you put that pathetic prince wannabe through?”

Virgil scowled down at Preston, waiting for Logan to deny it but looked round in shock when Logan merely whispered “That was years ago, everything is different now.”

Preston took this as his chance and shoved the distracted Virgil off of him.

Logan took a step back in horror as suddenly Preston was standing in front of him, a wicked grin on his face.

“Maybe things have changed and maybe they haven’t. How about we find out?” Preston taunted and pulled out the knife he’d used to carve the mark into Logans hip.

Virgil jumped to his feet, ready to grab Preston when he got a chance.

Roman had pushed himself into a sitting position despite Patton telling him not to and he was casting glances from where Preston was to where his katana had landed, his mind trying to work out if it was worth trying to grab it.

Patton was on his feet trying to channel his anger but an overwhelming feeling of despair and hopelessness washed over him out of nowhere.

He was so caught off guard by the feelings that he stumbled slightly and his legs started shaking as if they’d buckle at any second.

There was a brief pause in which everyone sort of froze or realised something at the same time then Patton disappeared and all hell broke loose.


	12. The Plan Is Revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: mentions of blood, threats, violence

Roman crawled towards his katana which he had almost reached when Logan, who had darted backwards to escape Preston, tripped over him and they both ended up in a heap on the forest floor.

Preston had taken steps forward in an attempt at grabbing Logan and using the knife to make the others back off but his hand closed around empty air as Logan fell.

Virgil had leapt forward only to stop in horror as he was the only one to notice Pattons disappearance and the sudden spike in hopelessness.

Preston let out a laugh as he looked down on the two traits he’d recently injured. This was going to be so easy.

He knelt down and put the knife towards Logans throat, making both Logan and Roman freeze.

“You’re going to stand up and do exactly as I say or my hand might just slip.” Preston said in a falsely sweet voice his other hand finding a grip in Logans hair.

Logan swallowed nervously and slowly, shakily got to his feet with a wince, his entire body still painful from where Preston had punished him.

Roman slowly inched his hand towards his katana but Preston noticed and pushed the blade right up to the skin on Logans throat so a small bead of blood became visible.

“Stand up and kick the sword away from you or things will get messy.” Preston said with a grin. “And I do so love when things get messy, I’m sure Logan here can attest to that.”

Logan closed his eyes, trying to block out all the painful memories.

Virgil had slowly been taking steps back from the others and had managed to get right to the edge of the treeline of the clearing.

He had an idea of where Patton might have disappeared to so he was trying to prepare himself and think of how to get Logan away from Preston without the knife getting in the way.

Roman stared directly into Prestons eyes with a hateful glare as he slowly stood up and booted his katana away from him. He wasn’t going to risk Logan getting hurt but there was no way he’d show anything but contempt for Preston the whole time.

Preston looked around, completely writing of Roman as not a threat any more, his eyes sweeping across Virgil who he thought looked like he was trying to run away. A smirk tugged at his lips as he addressed him.

“Well, well, well Virgil. I always knew you were weak but running away? That’s bad, even for you. I always took you for the kind of guy to put others first, like when you let me in. Ah good times, you were so much fun back then.”

Virgil was taking deep breaths to calm himself down so he could talk in a steady voice. “I’m not running away. I want to make a bargain with you.”

Preston considered this as he looked at Virgil, curious what Virgil could have to offer that he couldn’t already take. “I’m listening.” he stated.

Virgil raised his eyes and looked Preston right in the face as he said “Try to affect me with your abilities.”

Preston frowned but decided to play along, attempting to use his ability but found himself unable to do anything.

“What…” Preston exclaimed angrily and Virgil cut him off.

“One of my abilities is I can block other traits abilities to help overwrite what they’re telling Thomas to do which helps if something is going to harm him. That’s what I’m doing to you right now. My bargain is you have to let go of Logan and leave him and the others alone, that includes Thomas before you get any ideas.”

Preston was glaring now and snarled “What’s in it for me? If I can’t harm anyone there’s very little point.”

Virgil took a step forward, his head raised high and spoke in a confident voice that shocked all present. “You’ll be able to harm me and I’ll even let you use your abilities but you can’t harm anyone else. If you do I will make sure to fight against you with everything I have and you’ll have to kill me.”

Preston reeled in shock but was the first to recover as he said “That may sound fun but that’s not good enough. How about we make this a challenge? You stop using your abilities and I’ll let your pathetic friends go, but, if I manage to break you, manage to turn you into little more than what dear little Logan was, then I get to hurt the others.”

Virgil thought about it for a second but he knew he could probably deal with Preston for a couple weeks before breaking which was more than enough time for Thomas to manage to get hold of some antidepressants. This way everyone would be safe and Preston would be dealt with. “I accept your challenge.” Virgil said.

Immediately Roman and Logan began to protest.

“Virgil! no….”  
“What? Why are you… “

But Virgil cut them off "It’s the only way.”

Preston smirked and lowered his knife from Logans neck, keeping an eye on Roman in case he went for the katana.

Logan was shoved towards Roman and they stumbled slightly while Preston approached Virgil, a smug expression on his face as Virgil slowly unblocked his abilities.

“A pleasure doing business with you Virgil.” he said in a cocky voice.

Virgil stood his ground as Preston stopped right in front of him his abilities now completely unblocked.

Preston cocked his head to the side pondering what to do first when suddenly Patton reappeared.

Patton was shaky, his face tear streaked, but his face was full of rage.

“Why? How could you?” His voice echoed around the clearing as his eyes locked onto where Virgil and Preston were standing.

Preston raised an eyebrow at Patton wondering what had set him off and was about to open his mouth to respond when another voice answered instead.

“I’m sorry Patton but we both know there is no other choice.” Virgil started but Patton let out a hysterical laugh of disbelief.

“No other choice? Really? How many times do we have to tell you that we need you? Without you Thomas is doomed.” Pattons tone was bitter and he was glaring at Virgil with teary eyes. “I understand what your reasoning is but don’t you ever make a decision like that without consulting us! We would have had no fucking warning! None at all! So don’t stand there and fucking apologise! We almost lost you once I don’t know if I can go through that again.”

Patton had been shouting to start with but as he mentioned the near miss his voice broke and fresh tears rolled down his face.

Virgil risked a glance at Preston who seemed to be slightly confused and hoped he wouldn’t be able to put everything together just yet because it was obvious to Virgil that Patton knew about the antidepressants now.

Then his gaze settled on the others. Roman and Logan looked just as confused but they hadn’t felt the spike in Thomas’s despair like he and Patton had. They hadn’t even noticed Patton disappearing to check on Thomas, which was the only reason he would have disappeared like that and known about the antidepressants.

“If there were any other way you know I would do it but there isn’t. We both know that this has to end.” Virgil said in a soft voice, trying to comfort Patton and ignore the fact that he himself was terrified of what was to come.

Patton wiped his face with his hand and said in a small voice “That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

Preston was looking between the two trying to figure out what was going on. They were obviously discussing something else but he couldn’t come up with anything majorly worrying so it was more of an annoyance.

Patton walked towards where the others stood and said in a loud voice “We should probably all get at least a couple hours sleep so Thomas doesn’t collapse.”

The others immediately tried to argue but were silenced by a glare from Patton.

Preston laughed at this and taunted “Look at you lot, scared of him and his adorable glares, no wonder you scream so much when I show up.”

While Preston was busy taunting Virgil tilted his head slightly at Patton having noticed the emphasis on the couple hours. Patton gave a small nod and Virgil let out a small sigh of relief.

He’d only have to deal with Preston for a couple hours or so and then it’d all begin to end.

Roman was horrified. He couldn’t believe Patton was asking them to just go take a nap when Preston was going to be torturing Virgil the entire time. He wouldn’t be able to sleep with that on his mind, knowing he could have done something to stop all this.

“Patton, are you crazy? We can’t just leave him!” Roman hissed.

Patton quickly glanced at Preston before muttering quietly “this is all part of a plan, we’ll talk later.”

Patton then turned away from Roman and shouted “We may have lost this little battle but we will win overall, no matter what it takes.”

Preston laughed at that and grabbed a hold of Virgils arm as he replied “Whatever you say Patton, I think you’re trying to convince yourself more than me though. Now I must be off, I have a new toy to play with.”

With that last taunting comment both Preston and Virgil vanished leaving the others alone in the clearing.

“What the hell was that?” Roman demanded but Patton just shook his head and said “let’s get out of here first and I’ll explain what just happened.”

Roman scowled but grabbed both Logan and Pattons arms, teleporting them back to the lounge area.

Loganet out a shriek of pain not having had a chance to brace himself before being teleported and Roman immediately started apologising desperately.

Logan grit his teeth, and waved him off with a muttered “it’s fine, just don’t do that again.”

Patton sat on the couch with a heavy sigh which caught the others attention. “I know you’re both confused about what just happened but this is all a part of Virgils plan. During all that mess I was hit by a bunch of emotions that weren’t me and I had to check on Thomas. That’s why I wasn’t there, I was talking to Thomas and he brought up something he and Virgil had discussed to get rid of Preston. I don’t like the idea at all but Virgils right when he says it’s our only choice. He got Thomas to get a hold of antidepressants.”

As soon as Patton said that Logan let out a horrified gasp from where he’d sat on the floor.“But…. That’s so dangerous. Virgils going to be seriously injured or he could even die! We all know how hard Thomas is to deal with without him! What are we going to do?” Logans voice was fast and slightly hysterical as he struggled to come to terms with Virgils plan.

Roman leant against the wall in silence for a few minutes, staring at nothing as his mind processed what he’d been told.

Eventually he said in a low voice “There’s got to be another way. I don’t care if it’s difficult to pull off, I’m not letting Virgil do this! I’m fact I’m putting a stop to it right now!”

Roman stood up straight and disappeared, presumably to go demand Thomas not take the antidepressants.

Logan looked from where Roman had disappeared to where Patton sat unmoving on the couch.

“aren’t you going to go stop him?” Logan asked but Patton shook his head with a sad smile.

“Roman can’t stop this. I tried to when I first found out but Virgil commanded Thomas to go through with this and we can’t override that. It would need all three of us to do so and I’ve calmed down enough now to see this is our only option.”

Logan nodded, tears rolling down his face as they fell silent waiting for Roman to come back because he’d eventually realise he couldn’t stop this.

All they could do now was wait.


	13. Breaking Point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Mentions of blood, torture, violence, vomiting

Preston smirked as he and his new toy appeared back at the tree house. He was slightly annoyed he couldn’t do anything to the others just yet but it would only be a matter of time and he’d break Virgil and be able to go after the others.

Virgil looked around cautiously, hoping that the two hours would pass quickly.

Preston still had a hold of Virgils arm and used it to pull him closer. “I have so many things planned for you. I didn’t get a chance last time because of how easily you broke but I’m definitely going to savour it this time round.”

Virgil tensed as Preston whispered that into his ear but he wasn’t scared. He knew that either way he was going to be in pain but he didn’t care as long as he took Preston down with him. His fear had vanished the moment he knew the others were safe and now he just had to wait.

“You won’t break me.” Virgil said in a strong voice catching Preston by surprise.

With a raised eyebrow Preston looked him up and down. “Hmm, that’s a complete switch from the last time you made a bargain with me. If I remember correctly you were bleeding and screaming and begging for me to stop.”

Virgils expression stayed blank as he forced those memories to stay at the back of his mind. He focused on his job of keeping Preston busy and decided to give Preston something to do so he was distracted.

“I have no desire to stand here and take whatever you’re going to do to me you know. I said you could hurt me instead of the others but I never said I wouldn’t try to stop you from hurting me. So you’re going to have to do more than bring up the ‘old times’ I am not breaking.” Virgils voice was steady and slightly antagonising.

Preston growled and tightened his grip on Virgils arm, digging his fingernails in until he drew blood. “I plan on doing so much more than that, especially if you’re going to be resisting the entire time.”

Virgil grabbed Prestons hand and tried to pry his arm out of his grip but Preston suddenly had him pinned against the wall with his arm twisted behind his back.

“If you thought I was cruel before you’ve seen nothing yet.” Preston snarled in Virgils ear and put pressure on his arm.

With his face pressed against the wall and his arm being twisted to almost breaking Virgil couldn’t hold back his yelp of pain but in his head he mentally congratulated himself. If he kept this up Preston wouldn’t notice anything until it was too late.

Preston stopped putting pressure on Virgils arm as he had a wicked idea. “It’s a shame you won’t let me hurt the others. Logan was so much fun to fuck with, literally sometimes.” he said in a wistful voice with a grin as Virgil let out a low growl.

“Imagine all the fun I could have with the others though. I’d love to corrupt Patton until he no longer sees the point in existing. Or what about Roman? He’s such a 'brave hero’ but I’m sure I could find a way to get to him. He’d probably do anything I wanted if I threatened to kill you, even if I asked him to… ” Prestons taunt got cut off as Virgil threw his head back and caught him in the face.

“ah fuck!” Preston yelled grabbing his face in pain while Virgil turned around with a pissed expression.

“You’re not going to lay a single finger on any of them ever again!” Virgil shouted, shaking with anger and trying to keep himself restrained.

Prestons face was full of rage as he wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth. “Looks like I’m going to have to punish you so you know your place.” he grabbed Virgil by the wrists and the two started wrestling with each other.

Virgil pulled his wrists free and quickly tried to grabbed something to defend himself as Preston pulled out his knife.

Preston grinned as Virgil scrambled away from him and threw his knife at him, which embedded itself into his shoulder making him scream out in pain.

Virgil grit his teeth and pulled the knife out of his shoulder, a sort of shriek passing through his teeth as it started bleeding profusely but he now had a weapon of his own.

With the knife in hand Virgil sent a glare at Preston who was smirking for some reason.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Virgil muttered, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Preston suddenly let out a laugh “I’m just marveling at how different you’re acting from last time. It makes a change from the usual pathetic behaviour I have to deal with from Logan. All the flinching and stuttering and crying. It’s gets annoying pretty quickly but then Logans always on hand to help me take out my anger and frustration so I suppose he’s got his uses.”

Virgil reacted before he could stop himself and the knife flew through the air only to be batted away by Prestons ability. It clattered to the floor and made a chill run down Virgils spine as he realised Preston was just toying with him.

“As fun as this is, I can think of several improvements.” Preston said and suddenly Virgil was blasted backwards, his back colliding with a wall that knocked all the air out of his lungs.

While Virgil gasped for breath Preston sauntered forwards. “All this would be so much easier if you just listened to me. If you were obedient I wouldn’t have to do things like this.” Preston spoke in a carefree voice and then gestured with his hand until a sickening crack came from one of Virgils fingers. “you have 9 more so do as I say or I’ll break them all.”

Virgil managed to hold back a scream and tried to get away from Preston who was now back in front of him but he found himself unable to move.

“you’re not getting away Virgil. That’s a promise.” Preston said in a quiet voice as he reached forward and trailed a finger down the side of Virgils face.

Virgil tried to cringe away from the touch and was given a punch in the jaw for his troubles.

“None of that now, I’m not in the mood for any of your crap.” Preston growled, emphasising this by breaking another one of Virgils fingers.

Virgil felt pained tears run down his face as he let out a cry. He had no way of knowing how long had passed and he could only guess what the expression on Prestons face could entail.

“Let’s have a look at my previous work shall we?” Preston said and forced Virgil to turn around so he could tear apart the shirt he was wearing to see the words he carved into his back.

“Looks like they healed OK but they’re not very prominent anymore which is a shame. I know how about I go over them.” Preston clapped his hands enthusiastically and summoned the knife that was laying on the floor.

As the blade dug into his back Virgil screamed, which mingled with the crazed laughter from Preston who was enjoying himself.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thomas sat staring into space while Roman paced and ranted about how this was wrong and he shouldn’t go through with it.

“Roman, I don’t want to do this but Virgil used his loud powerful voice so I can’t not do as he said and he said to take them.” Thomas said in a shaky voice as he held back tears. He’d cried so much already and he was surprised he could even produce tears anymore.

Romans face remained stony but eventually he sank onto the couch next to Thomas and began sobbing into his hands. “I wish there was another way.”

Thomas enveloped Roman into a hug and they sat there for a while crying into each other. After what felt like hours they pulled away and Roman spoken in a hoarse voice “What time did you say they’re delivering the antidepressants at?”

Thomas checked his phone and said “anytime between 1 and 2 so in about an hours time.”

Roman nodded and stared at his hands before quietly admitting “I’m scared Thomas. Usually I can push the fear away but this time I can’t. I’m terrified of what will become of us without Virgil, what will become of me without Virgil. I… I just don’t know what to do anymore.”

Thomas watched as the usually strong trait broke down in front of him. The emphasis on the word me made it clear that his voice wasn’t the only thing that was breaking.

“You…” Thomas started but trailed off as Roman nodded, fresh tears running down his face.

“I never got a chance to tell him, never found out if he feels the same way and now I never will.” Roman cried.

Thomas tried to think of a reply but suddenly the door went making them both jump.

“is that..?” Roman asked in a hushed voice.

Thomas shrugged and shakily walked towards the door, pulling it back to see a guy holding a clipboard and a package.

Thomas signed the clipboard where instructed and took the package, trying not to show his nerves to the delivery guy.

As soon as he shut the door Thomas dashed to the kitchen where he puked in the sink from sheer nervousness and guilt.

“I’ll go get the others.” Roman whispered and disappeared to let the others know.

Thomas grimaced at the taste in his mouth as he reached for the package. He ripped it open and shuddered as a bottle of pills fell out, rattling innocently.

Now he was holding them Thomas felt even worse but Virgil had been adamant that he do this.

The others suddenly appeared with grim faces as they noticed the bottle.

“We’re all here Thomas.” Patton said in a soft voice.

Logan put a shaky hand on Thomas’s shoulder and said “This is the only way and right now Preston has Virgil so the sooner you take them the sooner Preston stops hurting him.”

Thomas stared at Logan with tears in his eyes as he took in his appearance. Blood splatters and torn clothes. He shuddered and tried to ignore any mental images of Virgil going through the same thing.

Roman handed him a glass of water, his face streaked with tears as he said “Do it Thomas.”

Thomas held back a sob as he tipped a pill onto his hand and threw it into his mouth, washing it down with water.

He teared up and was engulfed in a hug from the others. Now they just needed to wait for it to take effect.


	14. What Did You Do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Mentions of blood, torture, violence

Virgil knew immediately when Thomas had taken the antidepressants because he could feel the shift in the mindspace and the spike of guilt.

Preston didn’t appear to notice as he was too busy carving his name into Virgils arm.

Virgil found strength in the idea of Thomas having taken the pills and a surge of determination made him suddenly push Preston away, taking him by surprise.

“well I certainly wasn’t expecting that but it won’t do you any good.” Preston said with a sneer but was shocked when Virgil laughed.

“You’re so stupid you know? Nothing you do to me matters anymore” Virgil said through his laughs.

Preston glared and said “What are you talking about?”

Virgil gave him a smug smirk “You’re the embodiment of depression.”

Prestons eye twitched in annoyance, his hand tightening around the knife. “So what?” he grit out.

Virgils mouth pulled up into a mocking smile “You’re depression and are incredibly difficult to get rid of… However there may or may not be certain things Thomas is able to take that will destroy you that are called antidepressants.”

Prestons face paled and he shook his head in disbelief “You’re lying, he hasn’t been out of his apartment for ages.”

Virgil smirked “I’m not the liar here and I’m not surprised you didn’t notice. You were too busy messing with Logan to even notice that I told Thomas to go to the doctors and get antidepressants.”

Preston snarled and lunged at Virgil who stepped to the side just in time sending Preston flying through the wooden wall of the tree house and out onto the balcony.

Virgils eyes widened as he felt the air shift weirdly around him but pushed it away as he climbed through the hole in the wall to face Preston who had started to get back up.

“If you’re telling the truth then that means you’re in the same boat as me. There’s no way Thomas would take them because he wouldn’t want to lose you.” Preston said in a mocking voice, brushing debris from the wall off of himself.

Virgil smiled sadly at that and replied “He didn’t have a choice. I told him to take them and so he has.”

Preston laughed at that “So you’re sacrificing yourself again? That’s cute. At least until Thomas starts acting reckless again and gets the others killed anyway.”

Virgil tackled Preston and they both collided with the railing which creaked and groaned before snapping, sending them both toppling over the side.

Virgil grabbed a hold of the edge and was well aware of Preston hands grabbing onto the edge next to him.

Suddenly a strange jolt ran through them both and their hands let go involuntarily, sending them plummeting to the floor, their screams mingling together.

Preston remembered his ability to teleport on the way down but Virgil had grabbed a hold of him so he ended up teleporting them both to safety.

Preston pushed Virgil away, ready to start fighting again when suddenly the ground shook and a strange blurry, almost invisible, force began to spread over their heads. They noticed it spreading out and beginning to curve down.

“It’s a barrier to contain us.” Virgil muttered to himself and Preston started running.

Virgil sprinted after Preston knowing he couldn’t let Preston escape the barrier or everything would fall apart.

The barrier seemed to be enclosing most of the imagination forest and seemed to stop at the edge.

Preston noticed the barrier wasn’t completely down yet and pushed himself to get there in time but suddenly was tripped up and found Virgil clinging to him.

They were within a couple meters of where the barrier would close and Preston struggled kicking out at Virgil as he tried to reach freedom.

Patton stood with Logan and Roman at his sides on the edge of the forest. They could hear two sets of footsteps sprinting in their direction and eventually made out the sight of Virgil and Preston running.

Roman stepped forward in case Preston escaped but watched as Virgil tripped him up.

“Let me the fuck go!” shrieked Preston desperately as he kicked Virgil repeatedly trying to get away.

Virgil didn’t respond he just clung on, trying to ignore the pain from all the places Preston had hurt him in the past couple hours and the kicks he was currently receiving.

Preston was yelling and shouting, desperately clawing at the forest floor as he tried to get away from Virgil.

Suddenly his foot lashed out and there was a sickening crunch and Preston was on his feet again.

Virgil scrambled to his feet, trying to ignore the blood now pouring from his nose.

“You’re not getting away!” He shouted and grabbed hold of Prestons shirt.

The others stood watching, trying not to cry as they watched the barrier slowly closing.

“No!” Preston shrieked and used his ability to blast Virgil into a tree while he made a mad dash to the barrier.

He was too late as the barrier touched the ground and he collided with it like it was a solid wall.

He stood up and started hammering his fists on the barrier with a look of absolute terror that was very odd to see on his face.

The others let out small sighs of relief but it was short lived as Prestons face turned nasty and he turned back to where Virgil was trying to remove a sharp stick from his leg.

“You!” he shrieked and Virgil looked up warily. “What have you done?!”

Virgil tugged the stick free and pushed himself to his feet with a small smile and replied “I’ve won.”

Preston screamed with rage and threw himself at Virgil.

Virgil dodged and jabbed the sharp stick into Prestons side to try and stop him doing anything else.

While Preston lay on the floor trying to remove the stick, Virgil took this chance to limp up to the barrier where the others were standing.

“Virgil, are you OK?” Roman immediately asked and Virgil sighed.

“No, not really, but all that matters is he can’t hurt you guys anymore.”

“Oh my god, your fingers and your arm…” Patton gasped with a hand going up to his mouth in horror.

Virgil spared a glance at where the two broken fingers were swollen and bruised and to the congealed blood on his arm from where Preston had been carving his name.

“It’s not a big deal, I did what I had to to keep him preoccupied.” Virgil muttered and he turned to look at where Preston was cursing and hissing in pain as he tugged the stick free.

Suddenly the barrier started to pulse slightly and Virgil took three shaky steps backwards before his knees buckled and his breath came out in pants.

Behind him Preston lay on the floor his chest heaving up and down as he also struggled to breath.

Roman tried to step forward but Patton held him back with tears in his eyes while Logan stood with his eyes transfixed on Preston.

The pulsing stopped and Virgil managed to catch his breath again but Preston started groaning and twitching.

After a while Preston managed to push himself into a sitting position his face pale and streaked with tears. He looked at Virgil and then to the three standing outside and let out a bitter laugh.

“Oh how cute. They’ve come to see me die huh? Well I’ll give you a bit of free advice Anxiety. Get away from the barrier to somewhere they can’t see you.”

Virgil frowned at that and his eyes flickered to the others but before he could reply he felt a sharp pain suddenly run through his body and he let out a cry.

Prestons face had screwed up in an attempt to fight the pain coursing through him that stopped only seconds after starting.

Roman and Patton both seemed less sure they could watch and Logan had slowly been inching his way closer to the barrier.

Preston caught his breath and tried to get to his feet. “This was such a stupid decision. I bet you didn’t even know what effect antidepressants have on me or you. Did you?” his voice shook as he glared accusingly at Virgil who shook his head.

“well I do know because I actually researched before jumping into things. This process you’ve so stupidly forced us to go through is going to be messy and painful and will strip you down until your left with the basic understanding of your label and then you will fade into nothing. Maybe they can stomach watching me go through that but it will tear them apart when you start becoming the irrational, cruel personification of pure Anxiety. Don’t even try to deny it because at your very core is the energy to be a complete monster who can force Thomas to do anything.”

Virgils eyes widened as he glanced at the others and he shuddered. He could already force Thomas to listen to him so what Preston was saying wasn’t much of a stretch.

Prestons eyes strayed to Logan and he let out a small laugh. “I thought you said you’d changed Logan. Standing there watching me be put through hell and not even blinking. Kind of reminds me of when Roman confronted you about your little poetry book or that time when he pissed you off. Boy does he have a set of lungs on him, he can scream just as well as he can sing.”

Roman looked at Logan in confusion while Patton seemed to realise something and said “Stop trying to turn us against each other, this is just a desperate attempt to mess with us before you’re gone.”

Logan seemed to have gone into a weird state, his eyes glazed and unseeing as he relived the memories Preston had brought up.

Preston had a smirk on his face but it instantly morphed into fear as he clutched at his head.

Virgil had also grabbed his head and his eyes were shut tight as if he were trying to fight off a headache.

Patton took a few steps towards Logan and wrapped his arms around him, trying to comfort him and let him know Patton still didn’t care about anything he’d done.

Roman was still trying to figure out what Preston had been going on about but his eyes hadn’t left Virgil.

There was a moments silence before an eardrum rupturing scream came from Prestons mouth and he sank to his knees, his hands on either side of his head.

Virgils seemed to be in a similar predicament as he bit down on his lip to presumably hold back any noises of pain. He didn’t want the others seeing how much pain he was in or they’d stop Thomas taking the pills.

The pain faded again and Preston crawled towards the barrier where Logan stood and leant against it, his breathing uneven while Virgil remained where he was.

Logan had been jolted from his state at the sound of Prestons scream and noticed the arms around him.

“Thanks Patton.” he murmured, returning the hug and then turning back to look at Preston. “I have changed but that doesn’t mean I’ll shy away from watching you feel the pain you caused me all those years.”

Roman had sat down cross-legged in front of the barrier and was ignoring what the others were talking about in favour of trying to beckon Virgil over.

Virgil looked at him and sighed before slowly shuffling towards the barrier. “What is it?” he asked.

Several tears began to form as he tried to pull himself together. “I wish there was another way. I mean couldn’t you have got out from under the barrier in time or something?”

Virgil shook his head “I had to stay this side to keep Preston from escaping, there might have been the smallest of chances I could have escaped but I was too focused on making sure Preston couldn’t escape. Its too late to think about that now though.”

Roman sniffed sadly at that but carried on “I’m not going to ever get used to you not being around you know. I… I…” Romans words were drowned out by Preston letting out another scream.

“You’ll all pay for this!” he shrieked, whilst writhing on the ground.

Virgil was confused because wasn’t experiencing any pain himself, it was just Preston this time but he wasn’t complaining.

Once the pain stopped Preston struggled to his feet and locked blazing eyes on Virgil. “You did this!” he roared and lunged at Virgil who managed to get out the way just in time.

Virgil stood up and kept his eyes on Preston who seemed intent on hurting him again.

“You single-handedly ruined everything I worked so hard for!” Preston growled.

Virgil felt a painful judder run through him but ignored it as he watched Prestons every move. “This is what you deserve.” Virgil said.

Preston lunged again and this time Virgil blocked his swinging hands and landed a punch of his own, making a sickening sound as something went crack.

Preston stumbled backwards clutching his face in shock and pain as a nasty looking bruise began instantly forming on his cheek where Virgil had presumably just cracked his cheekbone.

“Not this time. Try that again and I’ll kill you myself” Virgil said in a low threatening voice that caused the others to shudder slightly.

Preston looked at Virgil and started laughing hysterically. “Looks like ‘scary Virgil’ is starting to come out.”

Virgil looked down at his fist and then at Preston as if he’d only just realised what he’d done. He backed away a few steps muttering “This isn’t me, I’m not like that.”

He glanced over at the others outside the barrier, having just remembered they were there and he felt shame and fear wash over him. He hadn’t meant to threaten Preston like that, he had just tried to say that Preston wasn’t going to be able to hurt him anymore and it had just slipped out.

He suddenly noticed everything seemed to get slightly dimmer and he let out a yelp of shock as he noticed a weird greyish smoke coming from around him.

At his yelp it vanished but he could see the shock and confusion on the others faces and Preston had a smug knowing look on his busted face. That was enough to make Virgil bolt into the forest where they couldn’t see him.

Preston was right, he didn’t want them to see him like this.


	15. Slowly Losing It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: mentions of blood, violence, vomiting, torture

Roman popped up next to Thomas and sent a glance at the bottle in front of him with a shudder as Thomas asked about Virgil.

This was what had been happening for the last two weeks and Roman said what he usually did “We haven’t seen him yet”

Thomas sighed and glared at the bottle of pills. “What about Pr… Depression?”

Roman grimaced “He’s gone quiet now and stares at the trees as if they’re going to grow teeth and eat him.”

Thomas frowned at that “Do you think maybe he’s staring at Virgil?” he asked in a shaky voice.

Roman shrugged “Like I said, we haven’t seen Virgil so maybe.”

Thomas sighed again. “I hate this. I wish we knew if he was OK.”

Roman put a comforting hand on Thomas’s shoulder. “we all wish this wasn’t happening but this is what Virgil wanted us to do so we have to do it.”

Thomas’s phone went off and he turned off the alarm and grabbed the bottle of antidepressants. He tipped one onto his hand and gulped it down with a mouthful of water.

“It never gets any easier.” he murmured “Each time I take one I feel so horrible and guilty.”

Before Roman could say anything Patton appeared, panting.

“Roman I was doing the usual check up on the barrier and I think I saw Virgil.” he said quickly and Roman turned to Thomas who said “Go, see if you can see him.”

Roman didn’t need telling twice and immediately went back to the mindspace, running to where the barrier was, followed by Patton.

When they arrived Logan greeted them. “Pres…. I mean… Depression has been more restless than normal.”

Logan stumbled slightly over Prestons name. They’d all decided that to help the process they’d start referring to him by his label rather than his name but Logan was still getting used to it.

Roman looked through the barrier which was becoming slightly more opaque as the days went by. Logan had a theory that it was strengthening each time Thomas took a pill and that’s why it was becoming harder to look through.

On the other side was a ragged, dirty, slightly bloody looking Preston who was staring into one spot without blinking.

Roman turned his eyes to where Preston was staring and noticed something flitting between the trees.

“I think I can see something.” Roman murmured when suddenly Preston started backing away until his back was against the barrier.

“what’s going on?” Patton asked but got his answer as a dark cloud seemed to seep between the trees and a dark figure lurched towards the barrier.

“is that…. Virgil?” Roman gasped in disbelief.

Sure enough the cloud dispersed to show Virgil limping towards the barrier. His face was littered with scratches, his hair wild and untamed, his eyes were dull and rimmed with black. His arms seemed to be bleeding freely in some places from recent looking injuries and his clothes were torn and stained with blood.

Overall he looked like he’d been through hell and the others hated that he had to go through this.

He eventually came to a stop, his eyes flitting from each of them before coming to a rest on Preston.

“If one of us kills the other I wonder how that’d effect the situation. Would the barrier lift and consider it a job well done or would Thomas have to stop taking the medication? If that’s true then how is he supposed to know when it’s worked because from what I’ve seen this barrier is getting harder to see out of and if no one can see what our states are they can’t tell Thomas when it’s safe to stop taking the pills.” Virgil spoke quickly in an emotionless voice, hoarse from all the screaming he’d been doing.

Preston seemed to flinch at Virgils voice which shocked the others.

Virgil let out an empty laugh at Prestons reaction. “Don’t worry about any of that, I don’t plan on killing you just yet. I’m a bit fucked up from this process but I haven’t become the utter monster you said I will. Not yet anyway.”

Roman cleared his throat and asked “Virgil why did you disappear for so long?”

Virgil pulled his eyes away from Preston so they were locked onto Roman.

“There’s no point in me going through this if the rest of you are going to suffer alongside me because you’re watching me screaming in agony everyday. You guys don’t need to see that.”

Roman sighed “it would still probably help us more than not being able to see you at all so we don’t know what’s happening.”

Virgil took a few steps closer to the barrier and gestured to his scratched up face. “You really think you can stand there and not react when I start doing this to myself in an attempt to block out the pain radiating through my entire being?”

Patton sniffed and said “We’re concerned kiddo and the not knowing just makes us think up the worst scenarios.”

Virgil closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Fine, I’ll stay out here for the next day or so but you’ll see. Its better for all of us that I stay as far away from the barrier as possible.”

Preston suddenly used the barrier to push himself to his feet and took a couple shaky steps away from Virgil.

“What are you doing P.. Depression?” Logan asked.

Preston winced at being referred to as Depression but otherwise didn’t react to Logans question, he just kept his eyes on Virgil warily.

Virgil suddenly inhaled sharply and backed away from the barrier his eyes darting towards the trees and then back to the barrier as if deciding whether or not to make a run for it.

Roman stared at Virgil in concern and shock as Virgil growled out “You want to see what I go through each day? Then keep watching because today’s show is about to start.”

Preston was shaking slightly and he had backed up against the barrier with a half-hearted sneer on his face.

“I think todays pill is kicking in.” Logan muttered.

Virgils eyes were full of unshed tears as pain began to flood his senses. He couldn’t hold back the shriek of agony as it felt like everything in his body had been set on fire.

Preston was in a similar state except his mouth was open in a silent scream.

The barrier pulsed and both of them suddenly let out matching screams which made the others flinch as they collapsed on the floor.

Virgil started clawing at himself and reopening some of the scratches on his face as the pain kicked up a notch.

He started choking as something hot bubbled in his throat and he pushed himself onto all fours in an attempt at getting rid of the sensation.

Prestons screams cut off suddenly as blood splattered the ground around him. The red liquid was pouring from his mouth as he struggled to breathe.

Virgil also began coughing up blood until both of them were kneeling in a pool of blood.

After a while the pain and coughing up blood came to a stop and there was a long silence where the only sound was Virgil and Preston gasping for breath.

Pattons face was streaked with tears as he held onto a rather shaken Logan who hadn’t seen this type of reaction to the pill yet.

Roman had seen Preston coughing up blood the day before so he wasn’t as caught off guard but seeing Virgil like that had definitely got to him.

He wished he could break down the barrier and rescue Virgil but he knew that it was a foolish dream that he wouldn’t be able to make happen.

Virgil had apparently recovered enough to get to his feet again but his eyes had a strange glint to them and the way he was staring at Preston was definitely scary.

Preston sensed Virgils gaze and they locked eyes, both of them with that same look in their eyes.

Preston got to his feet with a creepy smirk on his face as he rasped out “Your ‘friends’ seem to think they’re safe on the other side of the barrier but I can still hurt them if I hurt you”

Romans eyes widened at that and waited for Virgil to retort with some sarcastic comment or insult but was utterly stunned and horrified when Virgil just grinned and replied in a harsh growl “Try it and I’ll rip your eyes out and shoved them down your vile little throat.”

Preston took a small step to the side, causing Virgil to do the same the other way so they were now circling each other like two wolves readying themselves to tear each others throats out.

“Remember the good old days when I could make you cry just by bringing up how much the others hated you?” Preston taunted and Virgil let out a small snarl “That had nothing to do with anything you did though. If I’d been in my right mind I wouldn’t have fell for half your shit.”

Preston was smiling smugly “But you weren’t and I almost destroyed Thomas with a few simple words and threats. You were weak and so easy to break.”

Virgil suddenly laughed “the key word in that sentence was 'were’. Maybe back then I was weak but not anymore.”

Prestons eyes flittered to where the others were watching with fear on their faces and then back to Virgil with a sly smirk. “Really? So you’re not the same weak little trait who listened to every word spewed by De…..”

Before Preston could finish Virgil had launched himself at him and his hands were around his throat, squeezing tightly.

“don’t you fucking dare!” Virgil roared, black smoke starting to form around him as he glared down at Preston with a murderous expression.

Preston chuckled weakly, his gaze flickering from Virgil to the now utterly horrified expressions on the others faces. His plan was working.

Virgil was consumed by his anger and would have probably continued choking Preston of a familiar voice hadn’t called his name.

He looked round, noticed the tear streaked faces of his friends and then looked back down at Preston who he quickly released and jumped away from as if he’d been zapped.

He backed away from Preston and stumbled over, the black haze vanishing as he realised what he’d been doing. He sat staring at his hands in horror while tears started to fall from his eyes.

“What’s happening to me?” he whispered in despair, barely noticing that the others were trying to speak to him.

He remembered what Preston had said during the first day of being here, about how at his very core was a cruel monster.

He kept having moments where he felt so ready to hurt someone and he’d been fighting it ever since he’d punched Preston and damaged his cheekbone but as the days progressed he was finding it harder to stop himself acting on the violent urges. He truly was becoming a monster and he was terrified.

He clenched his eyes shut, not caring if Preston managed to recover and attack him. He thought back to when he’d had the idea of antidepressants, he’d been so ready to sacrifice himself to save Thomas and the others.

He still felt like that but he knew they were starting to regret letting him go through with this. They wouldn’t be able to continue down this road when they saw the thing Virgil was becoming because of it.

Virgil needed another plan. He knew that if they stopped with the pills now he’d probably end up becoming a worse monster than Preston had ever been, with his ability to force Thomas to listen to him. He wondered if he could maybe convince the others that he was a danger to Thomas.

He remembered how they’d reacted when he’d woken up from his coma and shut down that idea. Maybe he could convince them that he and Preston were in league with each other? Virgil knew he wouldn’t be able to do that. He hated Preston way too much to even try and pretend, besides Preston wouldn’t play along.

He was jolted from his thoughts by a sharp pain in his back and his eyes shot open to see Preston standing over him with a smug grin on his face.

Virgil glanced down and noticed the knife Preston had apparently kept a hold of was now sticking out of his back. He vaguely noticed the others screaming and shouting his name before black smoke suddenly shot out of him and blasted Preston backwards several feet until he collided with the barrier.

Virgil grimaced as he tugged the knife out of his back, ignoring the blood that began trickling from the wound.

He stood up, the black smoke swirling around him wildly as he examined the knife in his hands. He’d reached a decision about what to do. He was just going to explain what was going to happen and make sure they knew the importance of making sure Thomas took the pills.

First, however, he had to deal with Preston.


	16. Not One Of Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, violence, manipulation

Virgil spared a single glance for the others before he slowly approached where Preston was laying on the floor, groaning in pain from where he’d hit the barrier.

“stabbing someone while their eyes are shut? That’s a bit of a cheap tactic.” Virgil said with the knife in his hand.

Preston was glaring at Virgil as he rubbed the spot where his back had collided with the barrier “I’d call it self defence. Who could blame me for killing something like you?” Preston growled out.

Virgils hand clenched around the knife as he fought the urge to stab Preston. In the end he threw the knife away towards the treeline and replied “You’re not going to provoke me into attacking you again, I refuse to stoop to your level.”

Prestons eyes flitted towards where the knife had been thrown for a second but as he pushed himself to his feet with a wince they locked onto Virgil.

“you say that but we both know you can’t help but want to hurt me, want to kill me. I see the hunger in your eyes, you want to rip me apart limb from limb but you hold back.” Preston said with a smirk.

“I’m not going to because I’m not you.” Virgil muttered.

Preston chuckled “no, the reason you’re not going to is because you’re a coward. You’re so scared of how everyone will see you or will think of you that you can’t make the decision to fully eliminate a threat. What a shameful existence it must be to know you can’t even do your job properly.”

Virgil was shaking with anger now but he was also feeling lightheaded from the still bleeding knife wound on his back.

“you’re talking about how I can’t do my job properly but seem to ignore the fact that you’ve failed at yours.” Virgil grit out.

Preston grinned nastily. “Ah but you see, I haven’t failed because although this process is slowly destroying me, it’s also slowly destroying you and eventually Thomas will start to feel the full affects of having no anxiety again. It’s almost as if nothings changed. Both of your bargains have ended the same way in the end, Thomas will be missing his anxiety and will kill the others and himself with his reckless actions.”

Virgil let out an angry snarl but somehow managed to keep himself from attacking Preston.

“Why are you so intent on harming Thomas?” a voice suddenly asked from the other side of the barrier.

Virgil jumped slightly having forgotten about the others watching.

Preston smirked at Logan who had been the one to ask the question. “Well Logan baby, if Thomas dies then I get to become more powerful. It’s kind of an ideal set up, I get to torture and kill you lot and then right at the end I get rewarded by gaining a huge amount of power.” he winked at Logan who shuddered.

Virgil bit back a small groan as he started to feel the full affect of the knife wound on his back. He’d been running on adrenaline and anger but now both had dispersed leaving him feeling like he was going to collapse.

“Surely that can’t be right. As a part of Thomas you would die as well.” Roman said with a frown.

Preston rolled his eyes at Romans comment but didn’t correct him as he had noticed Virgil starting to wilt slightly. It seemed he’d had more of an effect on Virgil with the knife than he thought.

“Wait, Roman repeat what you just said.” Logan said, his eyes locked onto Preston.

Roman was confused as he repeated himself but Logan pointed an accusing finger at Preston.

“You’re not a part of Thomas, you’re a parasite! You disguise yourself as if you’re just another part of him but really you’re not.” Logan shouted.

“I should have known from all the inconsistencies! Your hair is much darker than any of ours and so are your eyes and even your voice has an off tone in it. I never noticed because…” Logan started of shouting but his voice trailed off and tears welled up in his eyes.

Patton engulfed Logan in a hug while he shot a glare at Preston. Knowing why Preston had been using Logan didn’t make Patton any less pissed off. In fact it actually made him more pissed off.

Roman opened his mouth to say something but was cut off as Virgils legs gave out and he fell to the floor with a thud.

“Virgil!” shouted Patton and Roman at the same time.

Preston laughed and took a few steps towards the exhausted looking Virgil.

“You know, I’d always wondered why you were spoken about like you were the biggest threat to me and although I understand now what was meant by that, seeing you like this makes the warning seem unnecessary.”

Virgil glared up at Preston but didn’t reply, not trusting himself to be able to speak without showing how much pain he was in.

“Since when did any of us speak about Virgil like he would be a threat to you?” Roman asked, confused and annoyed.

Preston cackled “Oh that. Well I made a lovely little friend who pointed out several things to help me get to people the first time and when I returned he warned me about little Virgil here but he managed to find a way to bring him to an almost breaking point so it was easier for me to break him. Unfortunately that didn’t work out how I hoped but now everything is going well despite the fact I’m in this fucking thing.”

Virgil pushed away the pain and exhaustion he was feeling and instead focused on his anxious energy, trying to show that even though he was injured he was still fighting.

Logan had gone pale thinking of how Preston had used him and a few tears ran down his face but he quickly wiped them away, his expression turning furious.

“Your saying someone helped you in your mission to try and kill Thomas?” Patton asked in a shaky voice.

Preston grinned again “yep. They may have been under the impression that I was just working to destroy you lot and they’d end up with more power but they still helped me.”

Virgil had managed to draw in all of the energy he could and was taking a deep breath to brace himself.

“oh so you use everyone? It’s not just me? That makes me feel a little bit better.” Logan said bitterly.

Preston laughed “You were definitely the must fun to use Logan but I wouldn’t have been able to be as efficient without my dear friend giving me information and tips.”

Virgil stared directly at Preston and called out “Hey depression. Here’s a bit of information. Don’t underestimate me!” with that said Virgil unleashed his energy so it blasted into Preston as a solid black wall and sent him careening into a tree which he slid down and lay motionless on the floor.

Virgil let out a small laugh and then fell on his side panting for breath.

The others were shocked for a few seconds but immediately turned to Virgil trying to see if he was ok.

“I’m fine, just a bit tired.” Virgil said out of habit and when he got three disbelieving glares added “OK maybe I’m suffering slightly from blood loss but I’ll be alright.”

Patton sat down on the floor in front of the barrier and rested his forehead on it. “blood loss isn’t something you can sleep off Virgil, especially considering you’re still bleeding.” he murmured sadly.

Roman took a seat next to Patton with a grim expression as he noticed the blood still dripping from Virgils back.

Logan remained standing, his eyes shut as he tried to think of a solution. “That’s it.” he mumbled to himself and his eyes shot open. “Maybe I can push my healing ability through the barrier and heal you.”

Virgil snorted “I doubt that will work, this barrier is designed to…”

Logan cut Virgil off “yes, yes, I know, it’s designed to keep you guys from getting out but it probably won’t try and stop people getting in.”

Virgil sighed and shook his head. “It’s not going to work. I doubt even if I get right up close to the barrier that you’ll manage to do anything.”

Logan frowned “You don’t know that until we’ve tried. Lean against the barrier and let me at least try.”

Virgil huffed but crawled towards the barrier and leant with his back against it.

Logan crouched down, placed his hands on the barrier and scrunched up his face as he tried to focus his healing ability enough to send it through to Virgils back.

Virgil shut his eyes as he leant against the barrier and tried to think of a way to bring up the issue that had distracted him enough that he got the injury.

A strange tingling started radiating through Virgils back and his eyes shot open in surprise. “I… I think it’s actually working.” He said in a shocked voice.

Logan didn’t respond because he was too busy forcing his ability through the barrier.

As Roman and Patton shared a relieved expression they failed to notice the shadowy figure lurking just out of sight, watching everything intently.

Whoever it was had been watching Virgil and Prestons interaction closely and didn’t seem to appreciate what they’d overheard.

Before anyone noticed them the figure slipped away in silence, eyes flashing dangerously as scheme’s began forming in their mind.


	17. Bittersweet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, vomiting

Prestons eyes fluttered open and he held back a small groan as he felt the pain in his head from where it had hit the tree he was now slumped against.

He could see Virgil and the others over by the barrier, they hadn’t noticed he was awake just yet because they were more focused on Virgil.

Deciding that he didn’t want to hang around until they did notice, Preston slowly began crawling into the trees until he was out of sight of the others. Only then did he stand up and start walking.

He was curious if his tree house was in the barrier so he set off in that direction and a pleased smirk twisted onto his face when it came into view.

He slowly pulled himself up the ladder, wincing and grunting from the aches and pains in his body.

He flopped onto the balcony with a loud sigh and lay there catching his breath for a bit before standing up and heading into the tree house.

He began searching through the house for anything useful and grinned as he pulled open a draw and found a ton of his favourite torture tools.

He pulled out a long sharp hunting knife that made his old knife look like spoon and closed his eyes as he imagined all the ways he could get back at Virgil with it.

He let out a small sigh and set it down, searching the rest of the room and coming across his hidden stash of cigarettes and lighters.

He ripped open the carton and stuffed one of them into his mouth, lighting it and letting out a contented sigh as a cloud of smoke burst from his lips.

He felt the stress of being trapped in this hellish barrier thing melt away and he could actually focus on a plan of action now.

He stuffed the packet into his pocket and toyed with the lighter in his hand thoughtfully as a thousand different ideas ran through his mind.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Logan sank to the floor with a small groan of exhaustion as he finished healing Virgils back.

It had taken a lot of intense concentration but he’d managed it and now Virgil wasn’t going to bleed out.

Virgil had fallen asleep leaning against the barrier and Patton quietly said “I’ll take Logan to bed and you can keep an eye on things tonight. Is that OK?”

Roman nodded and replied “That’s fine by me, just make sure Thomas doesn’t have another one of those nightmares. That’s the last thing any of us need right now.”

Patton shuddered at the reminder as he gently helped Logan up. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he has a peaceful sleep. If anything major happens let me know.”

Roman watched as Patton coaxed Logan into walking and the two disappeared back to the main part of the mindspace leaving him alone with Virgil.

Roman turned back to Virgil with a sorrowful expression. He wasn’t sure how long this process was going to take but he was quite certain that it wouldn’t be pretty and the one thing he wanted more than anything was to embrace Virgil and tell him it would all be OK.

Roman slumped forward with his head in his hands as he was overwhelmed with the daunting truth; nothing was going to be OK anymore, he wouldn’t ever be able to even hold Virgil in a hug because of everything that had happened and the barrier.

It was as if something within him broke and suddenly his body was wracked with sobs, hot floods of tears running down his face.

He was supposed to be the strong one, the one who dreamed big and never let anything put a damper on his hope of reaching his goals, but he didn’t feel like that at that moment. He felt lost and hopeless, like anything he thought about would be pointless.

His sobs mustn’t have been particularly quiet because a soft voice from nearby said “You know, I never thought I’d ever see you cry like this.”

Roman raised his head and found himself looking at a now awake Virgil.

When Roman raised his head and showed Virgil his tear streaked face Virgil inhaled sharply. It was such a bittersweet image because all the raw emotions in Romans eyes made them sparkle so beautifully.

Roman opened his mouth to try and explain himself but all he could produce were more sobs.

“There’s no need to say anything, just let it all out and you’ll feel better.” Virgil said in a comforting voice.

Roman let himself cry for another half an hour before he started to try and calm himself down. He felt much better at having let it all out but there was still an overhanging feeling of despair.

“I’m sorry for waking you, I didn’t mean to be so loud.” Roman muttered with a sigh.

“there’s no need to apologise, there are much worse ways to be woken up.” Virgil replied, trying to make light of the situation but failing as it reminded both of them of Preston.

Roman wiped his face and said “You barely got any sleep though and I bet you don’t get much when in this thing.” he gestured to the barrier which both of them were now leaning against.

Virgil was leaning on the barrier sideways his head resting against it as he surveyed Roman. “It was probably better I was woken up after a little bit of peaceful sleep than having to go through hours of nightmares and agonising sleep paralysis.”

Roman frowned at that and felt another wave of sorrow flow through him at how much he wished he could save Virgil from all this suffering.

“This is actually a welcome change. I got enough sleep that I don’t feel like I’m going to collapse and I woke up to a lovely sight.” Virgil said casually before freezing as he realised what he’d said.

“A lovely sight? What do you mean?” Roman asked.

Virgil opened his mouth and nothing came out as he tried to think of a way to respond.

“are you talking about me crying?” Roman asked with a confused expression.

“yes and no, it was just kind of breath-taking seeing you crying because your eyes were so…. Pretty and… Stuff…” Virgil managed to stutter out lamely and looked about ready to bury himself in the ground to hide from the shame and regret.

Roman was stunned into silence before he managed to ask “you think my eyes look… Pretty?”

Virgils cheeks burned as he stared at anything but Roman. He mentally cursed himself for making the comment about waking up to a lovely sight and regretted everything he’d said to try and explain.

Roman noticed the reddened cheeks and felt a jolt of hope which was promptly squashed as he remembered the situation.

“Pretty isn’t quite the word I meant.” Virgil eventually mumbled “I was just so caught off guard at the amount of raw emotion in your eyes and the way they sparkled while filled with tears… Ugh I’m just going to shut up now and contemplate removing my tongue so I stop embarrassing myself like this.” Virgil hid his face in his hands and fought the urge to headbutt the barrier.

Roman was lost for words as he processed what had just been said but when Virgil made another comment, this time about wanting to just disappear, he managed to say “If you disappeared I wouldn’t get to say something equally embarrassing back.”

Virgil raised his head and peered at Roman from between his fingers. “what?”

Roman swallowed nervously and said “I… I might have a small amount of feelings for you, which you probably don’t return and you don’t have to at all I just felt like I needed to say it so now you’re not alone in your embarrassment and now I’m starting to understand the wanting to remove your tongue thing because I can’t seem to stop talking right now.”

Roman clapped a hand over his mouth to force himself to stop speaking and fixed his eyes on Virgil who had yet to respond.

Virgil was dumbstruck at Romans words and was struggling to comprehend just what had been said. He just about managed to become cognitive enough that he realised Roman had admitted to having feelings for him.

Panic surged through Virgil as he tried to force his sluggish brain to form actual words in response. “I…. I…. I think I’m going to be sick.” Virgil spluttered before retching.

Roman winced and looked away as Virgil vomited, this didn’t appear too promising.

When Virgil had finished puking he started laughing hysterically. “This whole situation is so fucking typical. Of course it’s when I’m behind an impenetrable barrier, ready to sacrifice myself for everyone that I’m suddenly aware of you having feelings for me. This sums up my life so perfectly, I eventually find love and I’m in a situation where it’s impossible to have a relationship.”

Romans jaw dropped at Virgil mentioning love but sobered up quickly as Virgil let out a weird half laugh half sob. “Even if this barrier wasn’t here, we wouldn’t be able to be together either.”

Roman, who had rested his forehead on the barrier, looked up at Virgil questioningly “Why not?”

Virgil took a few gulps of air and replied in a subdued voice “The medication is changing me, taking away all the limits and rules I’ve created for myself so I don’t become a monster. I’ve become more violent and angry while I’ve been in here and I never used to be able to physically manifest my anxious energy. I’m changing and if the barrier were to come down now I’d probably become more of a threat than Preston is.”

Roman opened his mouth to protest but Virgil looked him right in they eyes, his hands pressed against the barrier. “Promise me you’ll keep making Thomas take the medication. Even if Preston dies before me, even if I ask you to make him stop. He must keep taking them until both me and Preston have gone.”

Roman stuttered “I… I don’t know… If you asked me to tell him to stop why wouldn’t I listen to you?”

Virgil closed his eyes for a few seconds as he unblocked his anxious energy until it was a huge mass of black smoke swirling around him and his eyes were glowing eerily. “Because right now I’m pretty much fully in control but the longer I’m in here the harder it is to stay in control. If in the future I ask, or even beg to be let out you can’t listen. If you were to let me out I could utterly destroy Thomas.”

Roman stared at the black smoke with a tinge of fear before locking eyes with Virgil. “I… I promise Virgil. I’ll make him keep taking them no matter what.” Romans voice wavered slightly but Virgil smiled and carefully brought the energy under control again until the black smoke had gone.

“Thank you Roman. You’ll have to convince the others but knowing you that won’t be very hard. "Virgil said with a sad smile.

They sat staring into each others eyes for a bit before a few tears trailed down Romans face. "I wish I’d said something sooner, I can’t even hug you or hold your hand and the thought that I’ll never get to hold you again is killing me inside.”

Virgil felt tears of his own run down his face as he smiled bitterly “Unfortunately life’s unfair Roman but at least we said something now so we both know. It would have been worse if you’d never said anything.”

Roman took a few gasping breaths to calm himself down then said “It seems like it was years ago that I was threatening to stab Logan for getting drunk and kissing you.”

Virgil snorted at that “Now there’s something I’m not surprised about. I did always peg you as the jealous, possessive type.”

Roman managed a small smile at that “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Virgil rolled his eyes “actually I didn’t say it was a bad thing, it’s fine by me, but threatening to kill someone? That seems a bit overdramatic.”

Roman let out a light laugh “But I’m the Prince, it’s my job to be overdramatic.”

Virgil let out a small snicker as Roman gestured wildly and felt the urge to shove him playfully but he was quickly bought back to reality as he remembered the barrier.

A sad sigh passed his lips and he leant against the barrier with his eyes shut. “All this is fun and everything but don’t you think this will just make everything worse in the long run? The more time we spend talking and getting closer is just going to make it hurt more when I become a monster.”

Romans hands fell to his sides and his head hung slightly as he absorbed what Virgil had said. He’d waited so long to admit his feelings and he just wanted to know everything he could about Virgil.

Romans expression turned determined as he said “It may hurt in the long run but I don’t care. I want to know everything about you, what you like, what you dislike, everything. Surely this will help keep you as yourself for longer and it’s better to have experienced this and then lost it than to have never experienced it at all. I don’t care how much it will hurt, I’m not abandoning you.”

Virgils eyes shot open and he stared at Roman in astonishment. He hadn’t expected any of this and he knew he should say no, that they shouldn’t indulge in their want to get closer but the expression on Romans face and the words he’d just spoken had made any argument Virgil had melt away into nothing until he found himself saying “OK, fuck it, let’s do this.”

Roman grinned and they sat there all night talking, neither of them even noticing the absence of Preston.


	18. The Morning After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: mentions of abuse, blood, violence

Pattons eyes opened blearily and he noticed Logan was already awake.

“Logan?” he asked in a sleepy voice.

Logan made no indication that he’d heard Patton, he just continued staring at the wall, his knees drawn up to his chest.

Patton forced away his sleepiness and sat up, putting a hand on Logans shoulder.

“Logan? Are you OK?” Patton asked and Logan turned his head giving Patton a glimpse of his tear tracked face and a haunted look in his eyes.

“Just a nightmare. ’m fine.” Logan mumbled in a dull voice.

Patton immediately shuddered at what kind of nightmare Logan could have had and gently linked his arms around him.

“I’m always here for you. If you need someone to talk to or just someone to hold you while you cry then just come to me. I know you’ve been through things I can barely imagine and you probably feel so lost or broken but I willing to help you move on, willing to help put you back together again. Just let me in and I will do everything I can to fix you.” Patton said in a soft but determined voice.

There was a long silence before Logan muttered “I don’t think I can be fixed. I’m too damaged.”

“There’s no such thing as too broken. I don’t care how long it takes or how hard it might be, I will help you get better.” Patton said firmly.

Logan looked at Patton, his eyes searching for any sign that Patton was being anything other than sincere but found nothing but a genuine want to help.

That was it for Logan who broke down sobbing in Pattons arms.

They continued like that for a couple hours until Logan had let out everything he’d been bottling up.

“I… I don’t want to be like this anymore.” Logan gasped as he calmed himself down.

“That’s good, it’s a huge step to just admit that.” Patton said encouragingly “The next step is to look at everything Preston did and be able to see that you didn’t deserve any of it. What he was doing was not love, it was abuse.”

Logan avoided Pattons eyes at this, in his mind he felt he did sometimes deserve what Preston did. Sometimes he’d purposefully ignore Prestons orders so of course he deserved to be punished.

Patton could sort of tell what Logan was thinking and held back a sigh. This was definitely going to take time but he was determined to do this.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil cast a fond look at where Roman had fallen asleep against the barrier, they’d stayed up for hours just talking about random stuff and Roman had tried his best to stay awake but he was obviously exhausted.

Virgil began to stand up, planning on stretching his legs after sitting down for so long but he stopped as he felt a weird painful sensation in his shoulder.

He put a hand to the shoulder that was giving him issues and winced as it felt really tender and sore.

He frowned and pulled his collar to the side to try and look at the sore area. He didn’t think he’d scratched himself there but he guessed he could have.

He couldn’t really see any scratch or mark so he guessed it was probably from his shirt constantly rubbing against the skin or something because it definitely felt more like a friction burn than a scratch.

Virgil got to his feet, ignoring the soreness and walking back and forth to try and stretch his legs. It was as he turned to walk away from the barrier slightly that he noticed he was alone.

His eyes scanned the treeline for Preston and found nothing which was definitely worrying. Virgils mind went off on a panicked tangent about all the horrible possibilities of why Preston wasn’t around, causing his anxious energy to start swirling around him again.

Virgil took a few calming breaths which made the energy die down again and walked towards the treeline, his eyes searching for any sign of Preston.

He passed the tree which he was sure he’d blasted Preston into and peered through the trees, just in case Preston was planning to ambush him.

Suddenly he kicked something and when he looked down he noticed the knife Preston had stabbed him with. He shuddered in disgust at the thought of how much blood Preston had spilt just from using this very knife.

Virgil was going to just continue walking along the treeline but something was telling him to pick up the knife. After a few minutes of deliberation he picked up the knife and put it in his pocket.

He turned and started walking back to where Roman was but he suddenly caught sight of marks in the dirt. He frowned and recognised some of them as handprints. It seemed that Preston had crawled away while they were distracted.

Virgil took a few steps after the marks but stopped, his head turning to Roman and then back again. On one hand he wanted to find Preston and make sure he wasn’t up to something but on the other hand he didn’t want to just leave Roman while he was asleep.

Virgil sighed and walked back over to Roman, deciding to just stay. There wasn’t much Preston could do anyway.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Preston opened his eyes with a smug grin, looking at the object that he’d made laying on the table in front of him. He’d spent all night focusing on this and he’d finally gotten it complete.

He picked up the phone he’d managed to create and pressed the power button, grinning as the screen lit up. He probably wouldn’t have been able to make it if he hadn’t been in the imagination forest.

He had a look through all the information he’d managed to mentally add to the phone and couldn’t help the cackle bursting from his lips as thousands of ideas popped into his head.

He glanced at a few of the numbers he had saved and had to force himself to not call them. He didn’t need anyone knowing he’d gotten a hold of a phone just yet.

Preston stood up, tucking the phone onto a pocket and walking towards the room where the hunting knife still was. He grabbed it and strapped it to his hip where he could easily reach it.

He could do so much more damage with this knife and he was confident that this time when he and Virgil fought Virgil wouldn’t be walking away.

He pulled the phone out again, a sudden idea coming to mind. He pressed the call icon and waited for the person on the other end to pick up.

“Hello?” came the familiar voice and Preston smirked.

“Guess who.” Preston said in a taunting voice.

“Preston. It’s been a while.” the voice on the other end said stiffly.

“I know it has but don’t worry I’m going to be in touch quite regularly now. I need you to do something for me.” Preston said.

There was a moment of silence before the person on the other end eventually answered “What do you need me to do and what’s in it for me?”

Preston grinned “I need you to get me out of this infernal barrier and as for what you get in return, you get your favourite little toy Virgil. If you get me out ASAP I might even leave him more than half alive.”

There was shuffling on the other end as the person deliberated before they sighed. “I’ll get right to it then but could you refrain from doing too much to him? You know how I dislike playing with broken toys.”

Preston considered this, his hand on the knife at his hip just longing to be used. “Fine but you only have three days and then he’s fair game.”

“three days is good for me.” the person on the other end said and Preston laughed while hanging up.

Things were going to get interesting.


	19. Romans Romanesque Behaviour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: vomiting, violence

Roman was reluctant about leaving Virgil after he’d woken up but he needed to get back to helping Thomas so after a drawn out goodbye he walked back towards the main mindspace to do his job.

He was walking past his room when suddenly he felt dizzy and stumbled slightly, using the wall to keep himself upright. His eyes closed for a brief second and he felt a nauseous feeling wash over him. He sprinted into his room and into the bathroom to be sick.

After a few minutes he felt a bit better but when he tried to stand up he felt like his legs were made of jelly. As he collapsed onto his bedroom floor he tried to think of what could have caused him to become so drained.

His eyes fluttered shut and he was unconscious in seconds.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Patton let out a relieved sigh as Logan finally managed to drift into a peaceful sleep. He’d been fighting against his exhaustion this whole time because he was terrified of having another nightmare but Patton had continuously reassured him not to worry.

With Logan asleep Patton was able to quietly sneak out of his room and head towards where he’d last seen Roman and Virgil.

He found Virgil sitting with his eyes closed muttering under his breath. “Where’s Roman?” Patton asked, making Virgil jump violently.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Virgil shouted, jumping to his feet and his energy lashing out at the barrier from the jumpscare.

Patton took a step back in alarm and apologised profusely as the black energy bounced harmlessly off the barrier.

Virgil closed his eyes a took a deep breath to centre himself before stating “I’m sorry Patton, I was just caught off guard. Try not to do that again.”

Patton smiled and nodded before repeating his question.

“He left about half an hour ago to go do his duties for Thomas. Not sure what time he’ll be done.” Virgil said sitting back down.

Patton nodded and said “I need to get back to Logan now but I’ll pop back later.”

Virgil just waved him off so Patton walked back to his room, throwing the occasional glance back at the once again muttering form of Virgil. He was concerned at how Virgils first reaction had been to try and attack.

He shook away those thoughts as he opened his bedroom door to check on Logan. He smiled sadly at Logans still sleeping form and sat down in the chair next to the bed, not wanting to wake him up by sitting on the bed.

He’d wanted to ask Roman about something Logan had whispered under his breath but he decided it could wait until later.

Right now he was going to take a small nap because he’d gotten only slightly more sleep than Logan which still wasn’t enough.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thomas was laying in bed staring at the ceiling. He’d managed to get a peaceful night’s sleep for once but he couldn’t bring himself to get out of bed.

“Staring at the ceiling isn’t particularly productive is it Thomas?” a voice suddenly said and Thomas sat bolt upright in shock.

“Roman? My goodness you scared the life out of me. What news do you have about Virgil?” Thomas said rapidly.

“my apologies Thomas I didn’t intend to scare you. Virgil is as OK as one can be given the circumstances, we’ve also discovered that Preston has been receiving help from someone.” Roman said, his voice wavering slightly.

Thomas frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

Roman shifted his weight and looked down at the floor with sigh “There’s a few others who reside in your mind apart from the main four but they don’t have enough power to appear before you. It’s likely that Preston promised one of them more power in exchange for information.”

Thomas was dumbstruck, his mouth was open in shock and he stared at Roman in disbelief. “I… There’s… What?” he stuttered out.

Roman ran a hand through his hair and said “there’s a few more ‘sides’ that you have yet to meet due to their lack of the ability to manifest like we can and one of them is helping Preston.”

Thomas took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. “OK, OK, let me try and organise my thoughts for a second.” he said raising his hands to emphasise his point.

“alright so you’re saying one of the less powerful sides is helping Depression?” when Roman nodded Thomas’s face twisted into a confused frown. “But from what you guys have told me his plan is to destroy all of you.”

Roman grimaced at that and muttered “Preston obviously lied to the one helping him about what his goal was. Preston is a parasite who manipulates those he finds either a threat or useful and when they’re least expecting it he pounces, taking them out before they even know what happened.”

Thomas was taken aback by the sudden amount of anger in Romans voice but Roman seemed to push away whatever had angered him because he spoke in a less angry voice “anyway, instead of moping around in bed why don’t you take a look into some possible auditions you could take part in? It’ll keep your mind off things and provide a cheerful distraction.”

Thomas shrugged. “I suppose I could, it wouldn’t hurt to just have a look at them.”

Roman beamed “There we go, maybe you’ll be able to take part in a couple if you start feeling more like yourself.”

Thomas nodded, a small smile coming to his face as the thought of being able to perform again came into his mind.

“I’ll leave you to peruse the auditions then, I should probably go check back up on Virgil.” Roman said and sunk down back to the mindspace with a flourish when Thomas dismissed him.

He walked towards the barrier and stood just out of sight, watching as Virgil seemed to be talking to himself.

Roman crept closer until he could hear what Virgil was saying.

“I am not violent. I am not going to stoop to his level. I am stronger than this. I can’t give in.” Virgil chanted to himself, his eyes shut tightly as he tried to ignore the energy inside him straining to escape.

Roman wasn’t sure how to react after hearing this so he backed away and pretended to have just walked in. “Hey Virge, I’m back.” he said.

Virgils eyes shot open and he turned around to see Roman walking towards him.

“That was quicker than I expected, I hope you didn’t rush through carelessly just so you could come bother me again.” Virgil teased with a small smirk.

Roman spluttered “What? I… No.”

Virgil snickered. “Whatever you say prince charming.”

Roman pouted then gave Virgil a confused expression. “Wait prince charming? Whatever happened to Prince not-so-charming?”

It was Virgils turn to splutter now “I… Well after last night…. I… Shut up.”

Roman grinned “Aw is that a little blush I see there?”

“Go away.” Virgil whined, hiding his face.

“Don’t hide your adorable blush.” Roman said and Virgil scowled.

“I’m not adorable! I am dark and edgy and scary!” he said loudly which just made Roman chuckle. “Sure you are Virge, sure you are.”

Virgil tilted his head like a confused puppy at that. “Virge? Since when did you call me that?” he asked.

Roman froze for a second before replying “Don’t you like that nickname? I can always just keep calling you my chemically imbalanced romance but I thought a cutesy little nickname would be nice too.”

Virgil sighed “It’s not that I don’t like it, it just reminds me of someone.”

Roman watched Virgil carefully as he said “So you don’t want me to call you it then?”

Virgil shook his head “It doesn’t exactly bring back good memories.”

Romans face twisted into a small scowl at that. “Who was this person that still effects you so much that I can’t even give you a nickname?” he asked in an annoyed voice.

“He was no one… I just don’t have good things associated with being called Virge.” Virgil said, trying to reassure Roman but it just seemed to make things worse.

“Was he your ex? Is that it? Some long forgotten flame who you still have feelings for so every time anyone calls you Virge you hurt because you wish he were there with you?!” Roman was shouting now and Virgils eyes widened in shock.

“No! That’s not it at all! Roman please calm down! I told you last night I’ve never been in a relationship before!” Virgil was trying to stop himself shaking as the panic of having Roman angry at him started to set in.

“Yeah but how do I know you aren’t just lying to me? You never once mentioned anyone but all of a sudden there’s some mysterious guy! So what was it? Did you lie about not having been in a relationship or was he some one night stand who called you Virge every time you two fu… ”

“Stop!” shrieked Virgil in despair as he realised what Roman was trying to say. “where the fuck did all this come from? I… I just…” Virgils eyes were filled with tears and he was trying to figure out how things had changed so quickly.

Roman was breathing heavily and his jaw was clenched as if he were trying to hold himself back. “I’m going to go.” he growled out and spun on his heel, storming away.

“Roman! Please! Don't go!” Virgil screamed frantically at Romans back, tears rolling down his face.

Roman ignored him and kept walking, eventually disappearing.

Virgil slumped against the barrier sobbing and beating it with his fists in anguish while his energy was lashing out aggressively,

He knew Roman got incredibly jealous and angry pretty quickly but he’d never seen this coming.


	20. Bad Memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: vomiting, violence, mentions of blood, torture, manipulation

Thomas sat in his living room with his laptop, looking through different plays and musicals with a much more cheerful mood than he’d had for a while.

He’d been sitting there for hours and had completely forgotten about his phone which was still up in his bedroom.

His phone, which had been going off for an hour, finally fell silent where it sat next to a small bottle of pills on Thomas’s bedside table.

Thomas continued browsing and no one appeared to remind him of the alarm he’d set so he remained that way for the rest of the day.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Romans eyes fluttered open and he pushed himself up off the floor with a groan. He was still in his bedroom where he’d collapsed after puking but he had no idea how long he’d been unconscious.

He sat on his bed and ran a hand down his face, trying to remember what exactly had happened. He smiled at the memory of Virgil but pushed that away to focus on why he’d felt so tired and dizzy.

He’d only ever felt like that a few times and that was usually after a long strenuous session in the imagination forest where he liked to create weird hybrid animals and things.

His face went pale as he remembered that Virgil and Preston were in part of the imagination forest which meant one of them must have created something complex enough to drain him. He knew it wasn’t Virgil so that just left Preston.

He went to open his door, ready to warn Virgil, but his door seemed to have merged with the wall. It was completely sealed shut and he was stuck inside. He hit the place where his door should have been but made contact with hard stone.

He tried to teleport but it didn’t work so he instead tried to sink down only to find he couldn’t do that either. Panic started to set in slightly as he realised how bad this was. He knew Preston had created something but couldn’t warn anyone.

He suddenly remembered his phone and quickly pulled it out. He dialled Virgils number and waited, forcing himself to remain calm.

“hello?” said a croaky voice and Roman felt his heart ache at hearing Virgils voice like that.

“Virgil, it’s me. I have a real big issue and I needed to warn you…” Roman started but was cut off.

“Have you calmed down now?” Virgil asked in a shaky voice.

Roman frowned in confusion “Huh? What do you mean?”

“You… You were so angry and loud and you… You left me.” Virgil said, his voice breaking on the second to last word.

Roman was instantly alarmed. “When was this?” he asked, trying to hide his panic.

“about an hour and a half ago.” Virgil said. “Why are you asking me? You were there.”

Roman made a noise of distress “That wasn’t me Virgil. I got really dizzy as I was walking past my room and ended up puking then passing out on the floor. I only woke up five minutes ago and my doors completely gone. I can’t get out of my room. I don’t know who you thought you were talking to but it wasn’t me. You’ve got to believe me.”

There was a moments pause and then “Oh my fucking god.”

“What? What happened?” Roman asked desperately.

“I… Don’t worry. I’m not sure why you called me because I can’t exactly help.”

“Wait! Virgil.” Roman exclaimed.

Virgil sighed “What?”

“I… I… Lo..”

“Oh shit! I have to go, bye.” Virgil rushed out, cutting off Romans words and then hanging up, leaving Roman staring at the phone with tears running down his face.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Logan opened his eyes and glanced around, taking note of Patton slumped in the chair by the bed and silently slipped out of the bed.

He crept towards the door and opened it, making his way to his own room.

The nightmare he’d had reminded him of a certain box of things he still had. He carefully opened his wardrobe and shifted a bunch of stuff until he caught sight of a wooden box.

He pulled it out with shaking hands and gently prised it open to reveal the paper inside. He shuddered and hesitated, not sure if he could bring himself to go through this box again.

Eventually he plucked up the courage to do so and pulled out a couple pages.

These were all the memories he’d ripped out of the others memory books. He’d never actually been able to destroy them and he was debating whether or not to try and put them back.

The sudden gain of these memories would probably cause the others to turn on him but he needed them to know exactly what had happened or he’d never be able to look them in the eye.

His eyes flicked over the page in his hands and shuddered as he remembered what had happened.

*flashback*

Logan was walking down a corridor when suddenly Roman appeared out of nowhere.

“What did you do?” he demanded angrily.

Logan stopped and tried to rack his brain to figure out what Roman was referring to.

“I know you and that other trait are up to something and I’m pretty sure I found out what but my memory of the last few hours is completely blank. You must have done something.” Roman was right in Logans face now.

“I.. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Logan spluttered out and Roman growled and shoved him into a wall.

“sure you fucking don’t! Tell me what you did to me or I swear I’ll….”

“ah ah ah, not so fast Princey boy.” a familiar voice said cutting off Romans threat.

Logan and Roman turned their heads to see Preston leaning against the wall with a cigarette in his mouth, casually smoking as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

Preston pushed himself away from the wall and approached Roman with a mocking smile “I’m afraid I can’t let you harm Logan, he’s mine and you have no right to have your hands on him”

Logan flinched as Prestons arm shot out and pulled Roman away from him.

“let me go!” Roman shouted but Preston let out a cruel laugh. “I don’t think I will, you have quite the set of lungs on you and I love listening to a good scream.”

Logan closed his eyes as Roman suddenly let out a small gasp of pain which turned into a loud scream, he didn’t need to look to know Preston had pulled out one of his knives.

Logan only opened his eyes when Preston had done and all he could hear was the pained sobs from Roman.

There was blood all over the place and Logans stomach churned as he looked at the nasty slashes Preston had inflicted on Roman.

“Aw Logan what’s wrong? You look like you’re going to be sick. Come here, I’ll make it all better.” Preston said in a convincingly concerned sounding voice.

Logan was pulled into a hug which meant he also became covered in blood. “Red is definitely your colour. How about you clean up this little situation and I’ll meet you back in your room to continue what we did yesterday.” Preston purred this in Logans ear and placed a demanding kiss on his lips before sauntering away with a smug smirk.

Logan approached Roman, shaking and trying to stay strong. He placed a hand on one of his wounds and healed it, silent tears slipping down his face the whole time.

“W…. Why?” Roman gasped out and Logan closed his eyes as he responded “I’m sorry.”

Romans betrayed expression was plastered to the inside of his eyelids as he healed all the wounds but he managed to stay focused. Roman had passed out from blood loss so it was easier to clean up the blood and meant he was able to sneak to the memory library so he could rip out what had just happened.

*flashback end*

Logans hands shook so much he could barely hold the paper in his hands. He quickly put it down but his hand brushed against something else in the box and he gagged.

Slightly hidden amongst the paper was a set of photographs that Logan didn’t even know why he’d kept them.

He pushed the box away, trying to control the urge to puke that had hit him when he’d noticed the photos.

A morbid curiosity came over him after a while and his hand inched back into the box and pulled out the collection of photos.

He took a deep breath and looked at the first one, just about stopping himself from puking as he saw his own bloodied up body. He knew why he’d kept these now. He’d kept them because Preston had demanded him too.

Every single one of the pictures were taken by Preston and nearly all of them were of Logan after a particularly bloody punishment and there was even one which had to have been taken while Preston had been torturing him during sex.

Logan immediately flipped that one over so he didn’t have to look at it and glanced at the last photo. He frowned in confusion as it wasn’t of him. It was a random photo of the mindspace and he could just make out a blurry figure that was just enough out of focus that he couldn’t recognise them.

He pried his eyes away from the photo and put his head in his hands. Going through all this had definitely brought up some painful memories but he was adamant about restoring them for the others so they could know the true extent of what happened last time.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil dropped his phone, his eyes locked onto his arm in terror.

His skin had always been unhealthily pale but now it looked grey and seemed to be flaking like he had some sort of skin disease.

He’d noticed it while on the phone to Roman and had actually seen the greyness spread from his upper arm down to his elbow which is what had made him hang up on Roman so abruptly.

He couldn’t even remember what Roman had been saying, he was too focused on what was happening to his arm.

It was the same arm that had felt sore, like it had been friction burned and he was freaking out.

“That doesn’t look good.” a voice said and Virgil spun around to face the barrier, his energy going wild as he panicked.

“Roman? What?” Virgil said in confusion as he saw Roman standing in front of the barrier and sent a glance back at where his phone lay in the dirt.

“ah I’m guessing you’re wondering why I’m here when you just got off the phone with me.” Roman said with a small smile.

Virgils head felt fuzzy as he tried to remember what exactly Roman had said via the phone. He knew it was important but the more he tried to remember the more he forgot.

“I thought you said something about feeling sick?” Virgil said, making it more of a question as he was unsure if that was what had been said.

“Yes, I did. I said that the way I reacted earlier made me feel sick and I was going to apologise but you hung up before I could so I decided to come apologise in person.” Roman explained.

Virgil frowned, he was convinced that wasn’t what happened but he couldn’t even remember what had been said so maybe he was just being paranoid.

“What’s up with your arm?” Roman suddenly asked and Virgil cringed.

The greyness wasn’t too bad, a little off putting but Virgil could deal with it. The worst part was the flakiness, it was like pastry and it made Virgil feel nauseous at the sight of it.

“I don’t know. I think it might be a side effect of the tablets.” Virgil said, too focused on his arm that he missed the way Romans eyes seemed to flash a different colour briefly.

“If that’s happening to you do you think it’s happening to Preston?” Roman asked.

Virgil frowned again as he both considered that and wondered why Roman was suddenly referring to Preston by his name again.

“Depression crawled away at some point while we were distracted and I haven’t seen him since so maybe. It’s actually concerning that we haven’t seen a sign of him.” Virgil said, looking over at the treeline as if he expected to see Preston pop out from behind a tree.

“Yeah, that’s really worrying.” Roman responded, his eyes also flicking over the treeline.

“Maybe I should go see if he’s up to something, him having all this time alone to scheme is definitely not good.” Virgil said, taking a step towards the trees.

Roman immediately shouted “No don’t! I don’t want you getting hurt. What if this is his plan? He could be hiding in the trees waiting for you to go looking for him and then he could ambush you.”

Virgil jumped at the sudden rise in volume and his energy instinctively attacked the barrier like it had when Patton made him jump.

This time when the energy hit the barrier it made a strange creaking noise and the barrier flexed slightly.

Roman took a few steps back, his eyes wide as they focused on Virgil who looked absolutely terrified.

“What was that?” Roman asked, the corners of his mouth twitching.

Virgil was speechless as he stepped closer to the barrier and ran a hand across it. The barriers reaction had spooked him.

“I think somethings wrong with the barrier.” Virgil eventually muttered.

“Or maybe your energy is getting stronger.” Roman commented in an odd voice.

Virgils panic spiked at the thought of his energy being stronger which resulted in his energy going crazy.

“Virge what are you doing?” Roman asked as the energy started causing several trees to shake.

Virgil noticed and tried his hardest to stop it but he couldn’t, his energy seemed to have a mind of its own.

One of the trees was suddenly uprooted and sent spiralling into the barrier.

Romans face flickered slightly as a grin tried to twist its way onto his lips.

Virgil was now on the floor gasping for breath as he started having a panic attack so he didn’t even notice that ‘Roman’ was acting out of character.

The black energy was leaving scorch marks and scratches along the ground as it ravaged the area. The barrier was warping and bending every time it collided with it.

'Roman’ kicked at the barrier and smirked as it creaked like before and the tiniest of fractures appeared.

Virgil raised his head and was horrified as Romans face melted away to reveal mismatched eyes and one side of his face covered in snake scales.

“Deceit!” he gasped out before collapsing, his lungs feeling like they were on fire as he struggled to breathe.

Deceit chuckled “Who else did you expect? It’s funny that the others never made the connection between me and Preston. Did they honestly think it could be any of the others? Please, those incompetent fools haven’t got the brains.”

Virgil lay on the floor unable to respond as he fought to breathe properly.

“Logan is one tough guy, I’m shocked he’s not more messed up. The number of times Preston came to see me covered in Logans blood… Phew it was a nightmare getting it out of the carpet let me tell you.” Deceit said reminiscing about old times.

Virgils energy was still attacking the barrier and Deceit smirked as he produced a cane that matched his outfit.

“You might want to cover your head, things are about to get messy.” Deceit said to Virgil and swung his cane as hard as he could at the barrier.

A large crack began to zigzag its way up the barrier and time seemed to freeze for a second before the entire barrier shattered like glass.

Virgil let out a scream as he was showered with shards of the barrier and Deceit let out a raucous laugh.

His part of the deal was done, now it was time for Preston to hold up his end.


	21. Memories Best Left Forgotten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, violence, manipulation, torture, implied rape, physical abuse, mental abuse, nausea

Logan jumped at the loud noise of something shattering and quickly decided he needed to restore the memories. He pushed himself to his feet, picked up the box and made his way to the memory library.

He quickly located the memory books he needed and started the process of sorting out where each memory belonged.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Patton was jolted awake by a loud noise and noticed he was alone in his room. He shook off his exhaustion and ran out of his room, calling for Logan.

He turned a corner and was suddenly hit by a large amount of horrific memories. Every single one involved Preston and a terrifying amount of blood.

Patton realised that he was suddenly gaining back all the memories Logan must have destroyed and he was engulfed by dread as he remembered what kind of situation was required for the memories to suddenly return.

He vaguely perceived his legs folding beneath him and his back thumping against the wall as his mind struggled to deal with the knowledge Logan could be dead.

Everything suddenly seemed to drop in temperature until Patton felt like he was being buffeted by a glacial wind and his chest ached dreadfully.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roman sat dejected on his bed, trying to think of a way out. The way Virgil had hung up had freaked him out and he was convinced something was going to go wrong.

His instincts had rarely been wrong so he had tried to call both Logan and Patton to warn them and try and see if they could help with his predicament but neither had picked up.

He suddenly got an idea and closed his eyes, focusing as hard as he could.

After a while the object he’d been focusing on appeared out of mid-air and fell to the floor with a loud bang.

Romans eyes shot open but grabbed his head with a groan. There was a reason he never tried to create huge stuff away from the imagination forest and even then he usually got pretty tired and bleh feeling.

After fighting off the dizzy sick feeling Roman got off his bed and picked up the heavy sledge hammer he’d brought into existence.

His logic was that he was in his room still, so though the door had seemingly disappeared or turned to stone, it was still in the same place so all he had to do was get rid of the wall.

He turned to face the place where his door used to be and swung the hammer back, ready to start breaking down the wall but suddenly everything blurred and images began flashing before his eyes making him drop the hammer.

Flashes of Preston laughing, Logan chanting apologies as he hovered above him and in one instance Logan shouting and swearing at him.

Roman clutched his head and fell to his knees at the sudden influx of information and memories.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Logan gulped as he put back the last page and suddenly the whole room shook and the books went flying back to their places.

Logan sank to the floor shaking as the gravity of what he’d just done hit him.

Now Patton and Roman would remember everything both he and Preston had done.

He shuddered as one of his worst memories came to mind. He’d tried to remove it from his memory book as well but Preston had made it clear he couldn’t so it haunted him every single day.

*flashback*

Logan was sitting on his bed with tears running down his face as he began to slowly heal the enormous bruise around his neck from where Preston had strangled him.

He knew it was his own fault for denying Preston when he wanted to ‘have fun’ so he shouldn’t be feeling so sorry for himself but he couldn’t help it.

He’d just managed to make the bruise look like it had happened a few days prior rather than the couple of hours it had really been when suddenly his door burst open.

Logan flinched violently and let out a small cry of fear as he cowered, expecting some kind of physical blow but nothing came.

He risked a glance at the door and saw Roman staring at him in astonishment.

He felt the familiar feeling of shame creeping up and his face began to heat up. “What did you want?” he asked in a croaky voice that all but screamed that he’d been crying.

Roman opened and shut his mouth for a few seconds before blurting out “I came to see if you’d finished writing up tomorrow’s plans.”

Logan managed to compose himself slightly and leant over to his bedside table where a notebook sat.

“It’s in here.” Logan stated, unable to hold back a wince of pain as he handed the book to Roman.

Roman took the book but lingered in the door, his eyes drifting over the bruising around Logans throat and the hand like marks on his arm. “What happened to you?” he asked, unable to conceal his curiosity.

Logan glared and muttered “That’s none of your business.” in his head he could almost hear Preston laughing at Romans poor attempt at prying information from him. He wasn’t stupid, there was no way he’d share something like that with a person who liked to throw everything back in his face like he was worthless.

Roman didn’t seem to get the hint because he said “well it kind of is my business if you look like you’ve been attacked.”

Logan grit his teeth and growled out “Just take the damn book and go back to what ever stupid activity you were doing.”

Romans infamous temper flared up at that and he replied “Alright fine I’ll just go now so you can get back to whatever kinky sex you were up to. That’s probably why you don’t want to tell me why you’re all bruised, you don’t want people knowing you like being treated like some kind of cheap whore.”

Logans jaw dropped at that and suddenly a white hot anger filled his veins. He let out a primal scream and tackled Roman to the floor, effing and blinding the whole time.

He started landing punch after punch on Roman, barely noticing when Preston walked in.

“Fucking hell Logan, you could give me a run for my money.” Preston said in a low voice, his eyes glinting with lust.

Logan stopped punching Roman and stood up, panting but still enraged. He looked down at Roman, who’s face was swollen and bloody, and felt a sick sense of satisfaction.

“next time I tell you to piss off you better fucking do it! ” Logan snarled, feeling Preston standing beside him now.

Roman looked between the two of them with what could have been fear on his face but it was difficult to tell due to the swelling.

“I enjoyed watching you beat his face in but you’re going to have to clean up after yourself. Can’t have papa bear finding out now can we?” Preston said running a finger down Logans jaw line.

Logan scowled at that and Preston laughed “if it pisses you off that much you could always take it out on him before you have to clean up.”

Prestons voice was so convincing as he egged him on and Logan couldn’t help but remember all the things Roman had said about him.

In the end Logan caved in and took a step back towards Roman.

Preston smirked and fished in his pocket before pulling out his knife. “You can use this as long as you make it messy.” he said in almost a purr as he imagined all the different ways Logan could inflict pain with it.

Logan hesitated slightly before grabbing the knife, his eyes flicking from Preston to Roman and back again.

He was still so angry about what Roman had said that he wanted to do it but another part of him was disgusted at how he was acting. The fact that Preston approved was a pro and a con.

On one hand Preston was pleased with him, meaning less chance of being hurt but on the other Preston was pleased with him for acting like Preston himself would. He didn’t want to get hurt but he didn’t want to stoop to that level.

In the end self preservation won and he dug the blade into Romans shoulder, cringing slightly at the scream while Preston cackled with glee.

*end of flashback*

Logan could never rid himself of the absolute disgust and hatred he felt towards himself for doing something like that.

He wished many times that he could go back and stop himself from doing it but that wasn’t possible so he had to live with the guilt and self-loathing.

The worst part about that moment was that as soon as Roman had passed out, Preston had shoved him against the wall and accused him of being a tease who needed to follow through.

Logan remembered how he tried to argue that Roman was in the room so it was a bad idea but Preston had waved that off by saying Roman was in no fit state to run away or do anything.

Logan trembled as he thought of how he had to pull out a memory from Romans book that showed he had woken up partway through and now he would remember.

He felt his stomach lurch at that and he closed his eyes, trying to push away all the things he was sure Roman would say to him.


	22. Rocky Relations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Mentions of blood, violence, threats, manipulation

Preston looked up in shock as the barrier shattered. He hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly and he was slightly preoccupied with something so he wasn’t as pleased as he thought he’d be.

He grimaced as he glanced back down at where he’d been examining his leg. His skin had gone grey and flaky which was concerning because it was constantly sore and hindered his movements slightly.

He reached for his phone and dialled Deceit.

“I’m guessing you noticed my handiwork.” Deceit said instead of a greeting.

“Of course, I’d have to be some brain dead secondary trait to miss it.” Preston said in a scathing voice.

Deceit obviously took that comment for the insult it was meant to be and growled “I’ve kept my side of the deal, are you going to keep yours?”

Preston rolled his eyes at that “Slow down there scales, I called you for more than to listen to you brag about having broken the barrier.”

Deceit fell silent and Preston grinned just imagining the angry expression on his face. “I need you to do one more thing for me before you can take Virgil and do whatever the fuck it was you wanted to do.”

Deceit huffed in annoyance at that and asked “I’m standing right in front of Virgil right now so what’s stopping me from just grabbing him myself and telling you to stuff it?”

Prestons expression darkened at the very thought of Deceit doing that and he spoke in a low threatening voice “With the barrier broken there is not a single place where I won’t be able to find you, I suggest you do as I say or I’ll skin you and turn you into a lovely pair of high heeled boots which I’ll then use to crush Virgils skull under my foot.”

There was a long silence before Deceit eventually spoke in a slightly shaken voice “What do you need me to do?”

Prestons face immediately brightened and his tone turned light and cheery “I need you to work your magic and start turning everyone against each other. That way they are too caught up in arguing to even notice what I’m up to.”

“What are you going to be doing?” Deceit asked and Preston scowled at how nosy he was.

“Not that it’s any of your business but I’m going to be figuring out a way to take away Patton and Romans power until they’re just secondary traits like you and those… uncivilised creatures.” Preston said this in his most convincing voice, hoping that Deceit would take the bait.

“I… I don’t know… Is that wise? Doesn’t Thomas need to have at least three stable main traits to function properly?” Deceit said in a hesitant tone that made Preston want to smash his phone.

“I’d be removing Patton and Roman and replacing them with you and me. Unless, of course, you don’t think you can handle the power or responsibility? Or maybe you don’t want to leave your friends and move to the main mindspace where they can’t follow due to being so weak.” Preston commented slyly, fighting back a snicker at how easy it was to deceive Deceit.

“No of course I can handle it and those weaklings are not my friends. I’ll do as you asked and start messing with the others.” Deceit said in a slightly indignant tone.

“Wonderful, get to it then.” Preston said and hung up so he could let out all the laughter he’d been holding in.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the phone beeped to signal Preston had hung up Deceit let out an angry hiss and said in a mocking voice “My names Preston and I think I’m better than everyone. Oh Deceit you’re such a weak secondary trait blah blah blah.”

He shoved his phone back into his pocket and muttered “What a freaking asshole.”

Virgil, who had managed to calm himself down and push himself up into a sitting position, let out a small snort at Deceits words.

Deceit raised an eyebrow at Virgil. “You know I’m surprised your still sitting there, I would have thought you’d have tried to run or attack me by now but your just chilling.”

Virgil sighed “Well considering I have no idea where the others are and it’s too much effort to attack you it’s all I can really do. Besides who knows what effect I’ll have on Thomas after those pills so I’d rather not wander around the main mindspace.”

Deceit surveyed Virgil with what could almost be considered concern. “Why did you put yourself through that?” he asked.

Virgil sent a suspicious look at Deceit, confused by the lack of derision in his voice. “I’m just doing my job of protecting Thomas. It was the only way to stop Preston.” he sent an accusing glare at Deceit after he said that.

Deceit let out a small laugh “Oh Virge you poor thing, I adore your inability to think so much. It always provides some humour to my otherwise dull existence.”

Virgil scowled at that “What the hell are you talking about?”

Deceit wiped an imaginary tear away from his regular eye and replied “Oh nothing, just me making up random crap like usual. Ignore me like you usually do.”

Virgil struggled to his feet and took a few steps towards Deceit, his feet sliding slightly on the shards of the barrier that littered the ground.

“Explain yourself!” he growled.

Deceit chuckled “aw Virgil, sweetie, did you really forget about your time in the other part of the mindspace? Back in the good old days when you relied on me to help you through your panic attacks and before you became a main trait?”

Virgil frowned “What’s that got to do with anything?”

Deceit stared at Virgil in astonishment. “Surely you remember one of the main things you used to have nightmares about? That was one of the only times you, me and the others could stand to be in the same area.”

Virgil was completely bewildered now and Deceit felt a chill run down his spine as he realised why Virgil didn’t remember.

“That freaking son of a…. I’m going to…. OK, breathe, I can kill him later.” Deceit muttered to himself. “sorry about this Virge but I can’t have you wandering off before I restore your memories.” with that he quickly swung his cane and hit Virgil in the head with enough force to knock him out.

Deceit panted slightly and rolled his shoulder which had twinged slightly at the sudden movement. He took a deep breath and lifted Virgil, cringing as grey flakes shed from Virgils arm onto his clothes.

He slowly carried Virgils unconscious form from the imagination forest and back towards the main mindspace.

He peered round the corner to see if the coast was clear and noticed Patton at the far end with his back to them, hunched on the floor shaking.

Deceit crept as quickly as possible to Virgils door which was thankfully open so he had no difficulty getting in.

He placed Virgil on the bed and turned back to the door which he shut quietly with a small sigh.

He looked round Virgils room and wrinkled his nose in disgust at the old blood that stained the carpet and the general stench of stale blood that filled the room.

He opened the bathroom door to try and find some sort of way to get rid of the smell and recoiled at the bloody mirror that was still covering the floor.

“does no one know how to clean?” He muttered to himself and shut the door again, shaking his head at the poor hygiene the main traits seemed to have.

He looked at Virgil with a small sigh and took a seat on the bed while his mind raced, trying to come up with a way to get to the memory library without being seen by the others.

Roman wouldn’t be an issue due to him still being sealed in his room but Patton had been right at the end of the corridor which was the way Deceit needed to go to get to the memory library.

His face instinctively turned up into a sneer at the thought of Patton but he focused instead on the issue he’d have if Logan was hiding in the memory library like he had done all those years ago.

He stood up, ready to put on the performance of his life but stopped as he realised he couldn’t just leave Virgil sealed in his room with no explanation or he’d end up having a panic attack of some sort.

Deceit shivered as he thought of the effect Virgil might have on Thomas now that his anxious energy had reached an all time intensity and decided to write a note explaining what was going on.

He didn’t want Thomas to come to any harm after all.


	23. Where's Virgil?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, violence, vomiting

Logan pushed open the double doors and took a deep breath before stepping out into the corridor.

He had managed to talk himself into leaving the memory library and facing the consequences of returning the memories.

He slowly walked down the corridor until he came to his room where he paused and debated whether or not to go back in.

In the end he walked into his room because he noticed he’d left his phone on his bed. He picked it up and frowned as he noticed a couple missed calls from Roman which seemed to have been from before he’d returned the memories.

His thumb hovered over the call button for a second before a strange sound from outside caught his attention.

He locked his phone and shoved it into his pocket before walking out to investigate the noise.

He rounded the corner and noticed Patton collapsed on the floor shaking and sniffing as if he were crying.

Logan deliberated, unsure whether to approach him or not because he was probably the reason Patton was crying. Eventually he worked up the courage to step forward and kneel next to Patton.

Patton flinched as he placed a gentle hand on his back and Logan said “I’m sorry for everything. I regret everything I did or let Preston do to both you and Roman and if I could go back in time to change it I would.”

Midway through this Pattons head shot up and shock and relief flashed across his face. As Logan continued to apologise and talk about how guilty he was Patton finally convinced himself he wasn’t dreaming and launched himself at Logan.

Logan let out a startled yelp as he was pulled into a crushing hug and started stuttering out a confused comment but Patton silenced him with a long but sweet kiss.

When Patton pulled away breathlessly Logan had a slightly dazed expression while a hand drifted up to his lips, not quite believing what had just happened.

“You don’t have to apologise for anything Logan. Nothing you did or didn’t do has changed the way I feel about you. I remember everything and none of it makes a difference. The second all those memories came flooding back the only thing I cared about was why they suddenly came back. I thought maybe you’d… Died because of the suddenness that I remembered them and I felt as if a part of me had been removed. Knowing that you’re alive and willingly returned all those memories even though you were scared of our reactions has probably only increased my love for you.” Patton said all this in almost one breath as he tried to fully express how he felt.

Logan seemed to come back to reality and tried to argue “But I…

Patton placed his hands on either side of Logans face and looked him right in the eye as he spoke "I don’t give a damn about what happened in the past. I love you with everything I am and I will never stop. I’m not going to hurt you or blame you for anything and I most certainly won’t use you.”

There was a second of silence and a couple tears ran down Logans face as he whispered “I believe you.”

The two shared a short soft kiss and the ghost of a smile flickered onto Logans face as he felt a small spark of warmth in his chest, something that used to happen back in the days of ‘nice Preston’.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Romans eyes shot open as he stopped having flashbacks and he made a dash for the bathroom where he vomited again.

He understood everything that had been happening recently and he was revolted by both himself and Preston.

He wanted to go back in time and actually punch himself in the face for some of the things he’d said to Logan, especially that time when he’d called him a cheap whore.

Romans stomach lurched again and he dry heaved, unable to bring anything up.

The memory of waking up and hearing the noise of Logans muffled sobs and cries while Preston…

Roman heaved again. He didn’t want to even try to imagine what had been happening from the noises he’d heard.

Roman eventually managed to pull himself away from the toilet, his face pale and eyes puffy from where he’d been crying.

He sat on his bedroom floor leaning against his bed, trying to collect himself enough that he could think properly.

Eventually he managed to compose himself and he reached for his phone which he’d abandoned on his bed after Virgil had hung up.

His face was determined as he called Virgil again but it just kept ringing before going to voice mail.

Roman tried three more times but Virgil didn’t pick up and his mind started creating horrifying scenarios that he had to push away.

He wanted to call Logan and Patton but after having all the memories returned he didn’t feel like that would be the best, especially seeing as Logan would either expect some long conversation about said memories or would plain old refuse to answer when he saw it was Roman calling.

In the end he got to his feet and grabbed the sledge hammer off the floor, taking a deep breath before swinging it at the wall with all his might.

There was an enormous booming sound and suddenly the room went pitch black and shook from the force of the impact.

Roman was knocked off his feet by the room shaking and he felt a cold shiver run down his spine for a reason he couldn’t identify.

The reaction from trying to break out had spooked Roman into not wanting to continue so he turned back to his phone, pushed away his reluctance and dialled Logan.

“R… Roman?” Logans voice shook slightly on the other end and Roman forced himself to respond.

“Hey Logan, um… This isn’t about the memories or anything which we probably will have to talk about at some point but not right now. I… I actually need a favour. You see I’m trapped in my room and the doors completely vanished and I tried to talk to Virgil but something happened and he hung up and I can’t get hold of him and I think Depression is up to something!”

“OK, whoa. Breathe Roman. I’m with Patton right now and he’s going to check on Virgil to see what happened. As for the door thing, I vaguely remember that happening before but I can’t remember what caused it.” Logans shaky voice had stabilised as he went into thinking mode.

Roman took a few breaths to calm himself down and said “I tried to bust my way out with a sledge hammer but it just made everything go dark and shake.”

“If you’d have contacted me first I could have informed you of the idiocy of that plan.” Logan sighed. “I’m just thankful you didn’t manage to shake the rest of the mindspace and hurt Thomas.”

Roman gulped at that. “Is that possible?” he asked.

“Yes and there’s a reason why we’re incapable of locking our doors. Despite the inadequate amount of privacy, it’s necessary to prevent…”

Whatever Logan had been about to say cut off and Roman could just make out the sounds of panting.

“Virgil… Gone… Barrier… Broken… Found… Phone…” Patton gasped out, taking huge lungful's of oxygen between each word as he recovered from having sprinted as fast as he could.

“What? Are you sure?” Logan asked, his voice trembling at the thought that Preston was once more on the loose.

“What’s going on?” Roman shouted down the phone, hardly believing his ears.

“The barrier is down and Virgils vanished. Patton found his phone among the remains of the barrier.” Logan said, bracing himself for Romans reaction.

“What?! That makes no sense! What about the pills? How did the barrier fail? How did neither of you notice and where the hell could Virgil have gone? It’s unlikely he would just leave his phone behind by choice!” Romans panic-stricken shriek made the phone crackle.

His brain was working at a million miles per second to try and figure out what might have happened to Virgil and the barrier when he suddenly remembered something Virgil had said. “Wait! Virgil mentioned while I was on the phone with him that he’d had an argument with me but I’ve been stuck in my room the entire day which means someone is pretending to be me!”

Logan fell silent, obviously trying to work out what had happened, but before he could respond Patton let out a small gasp and the entire mindspace started shaking.

“What the hell was that?” Roman asked and was answered by Pattons quiet voice. “Somethings happening to Thomas.”

Roman tried to say something in response but a loud beep signalled he’d been hung up on. Again.

He let out a groan of frustration and sat on his bed with his head in his hands, with no other alternative but to wait for how ever long it took the others to get him out.


	24. Unexpected Flashback

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Mentions of blood, violence, panic attack

Virgil opened his eyes, his head throbbing painfully from where Deceit had struck him.

He pushed himself into a sitting position and looked around, his eyes widening as he recognised his surroundings as his own room.

He shuddered at the smell of stale blood, pushing away the memories of what had happened last time he was in this room and instead focused on what had happened for him to end up back here again.

He looked around and noticed a neatly folded piece of paper with his name on it sat next to him. He cautiously reached out and plucked it off the bed, not trusting it to not be a trap of some sort.

The note was from Deceit and Virgil was reluctant to believe a word he said but as he read through the whole thing he found himself actually thinking Deceit was being honest for once.

He sighed and massaged the side of his head which still hurt. He had no idea what Deceit had been talking about before but if he was truly honest with himself there were a few fuzzy moments in his early memories.

Virgil eventually pushed himself to his feet and started pacing, his mind racing as he went over everything that had happened.

The barrier was destroyed meaning both he and Preston were free, Deceit was working with Preston but didn’t seem to particularly like him, the others were somewhere, he wasn’t sure where, he was sealed in his own room and his arm had gotten worse.

Virgil scrunched up his face in disgust at the sight of his arm which was an ashy grey colour right up to his wrist. His skin looked gross, like some sort of marble statue covered in cracks.

He felt quite worried about why it seemed to have gotten worse, despite Thomas having stopped taking the pills.

Even as he watched, the grey spread ever so slightly to his hand and he was unable to stop a jolt of panic as his mind did the usual thing of overthinking.

His thoughts were filled with scenarios of his hand crumbling once the grey fully spread like some twisted parody of the scene from the first Harry Potter film.

He didn’t want to be like Quirrelmort.

Virgils panic suddenly rose as he had a horrific thought. What if the greyness spread all over his body? Would his entire body start to crumble?

His breaths started to come in gasps as his throat felt like it had closed up. He was shaking uncontrollably and black energy began pouring out of his body, hitting against the walls which seemed to absorb it and get darker.

As the room started to shake Virgils eyes widened and he struggled to calm himself down but it was no use.

He was in a full blown panic attack and there was no telling what effect he was having on Thomas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Preston grunted in pain, rolling onto his back and clutching his chest as he lay on the forest floor having fallen while climbing down from the tree house.

His leg had just randomly given out a quarter of the way down and he had hit the ground quite hard.

The familiar ache in his chest that told him he’d bruised his ribs gave him a strange feeling of deja vu and he was suddenly struck by a flashback.

*flashback*

“C'mon, you can do it!” a voice shouted from somewhere in the mist.

A much younger Preston was running through the mist, terror and determination clear on his face.

Suddenly from the mist a dark shape collided with him sending him sprawling to the floor.

“Watch out!” screamed the person from before but Preston was laying on his back clutching his chest, his ribs throbbing painfully.

A dark shadowy creature suddenly appeared from the mist and Preston crawled backwards away from it as fast as he could, his sword having skidded too far away to be of help.

The creature was enormous and seemed to be a mash up of several large predators if they were made of shadows. The beast crouched, presumably readying itself to pounce and Preston closed his eyes, accepting of his fate.

“Get away from him!” the person from before shouted, this time appearing from the mist and stepping in between Preston and the shadow creature.

Preston watched with his mouth open as the boy in front of him grabbed the sword and lunged at the creature.

The creature didn’t even attempt to dodge and the blade just went right through it, not effecting it in any way.

“But that’s not possible! Your sword can cut down shadowy nightmare creatures, why didn’t it work?” the boy with the sword shouted in disbelief, glancing at Preston.

Preston pushed himself to his feet, eyes wide in horror as the creature seemed to laugh.

“I don’t understand.” Preston whispered and the creature took a swipe at the boy with the sword, sending him flying backwards, dropping the sword.

“No!” Preston cried and launched himself at the monster. “Don’t hurt him!”

Preston suddenly found himself pinned beneath one of the monsters enormous paws and it pushed down hard enough that his ribs started to crack, making him scream in agony.

In the background he could hear the other boy screaming “Cayden!”

*end of flashback*

“No!” Preston growled as he ripped himself out of the flashback, trying to refuse to remember. He forced himself to his feet, snarling and cursing at having the flashback.

He punched a nearby tree repeatedly before panting and leaning his head against it, his whole body trembling from anger and, no matter how much he didn’t want to admit it, grief.

He took a few deep breaths to compose himself and took a few steps but before he could get far the entire forest started to shake.

Preston grabbed hold of a tree in alarm as he tried to stay on his feet, his brain quickly running over possible causes for the earthquake.

The shaking eventually stopped and Preston started walking towards the edge of the forest.

When he got there a large grin spread across his face, his eyes drifting over the debris and battered looking trees.

He decided that as Deceit had done such a good job he’d postpone what he had planned for now. The snake faced trait might prove to have more uses so there was no point in getting rid of him just yet, no matter how annoying he was.


	25. The Light Behind Your Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, panic attacks, manipulation, violence

Patton and Logan immediately appeared in Thomas’s apartment and found him curled up on the kitchen floor, tears running down his face and sobs bursting from his lips.

“Thomas, it’s me Logan. Copy me OK? Breathe in, hold, breath out.” Logan sprung into action, helping Thomas to slow his breathing down while Patton ran his hands through Thomas’s hair to try and calm him.

After a while he eventually managed to calm himself down but his face was pale and his eyes had a worried glint in them.

“What…. What happened?” Thomas asked in a shaky voice.

Logan frowned and shared a look with Patton. “We were kind of wondering that ourselves. We thought you would know.”

Thomas shook his head and ran both his hands through his hair. “I was fine and then suddenly I couldn’t breathe and all these horrific thoughts started running through my mind.”

At these words Patton gasped and tapped Logan on the arm a few times as he struggled to find his voice.

“What is it?” Logan asked, looking at Patton in concern.

“Virgil! What if it’s Virgil?!” Patton exclaimed.

“If it is him then there’s not much we can do. We have no clue where he is.” Logan said.

Pattons lip quivered slightly and he seemed to have trouble swallowing as he said “we need to find him. He… He might be hurt or scared and I… I don’t want to fail him again.”

Logan sighed and his shoulders slumped in defeat “I’ll go look for him but you need to stay with Thomas in case he has another attack.”

Patton brightened up at that and nodded so Logan went back to the mindspace to look for Virgil.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deceit closed the double doors to the memory library and let out a sigh of relief, cancelling his invisibility ability.

He strode through the shelves until he was in the darkest corner where a small wooden cabinet stood, it’s doors chained shut.

Deceit pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the padlock which fell to the floor with a loud clang, the chains falling away with a clatter.

Deceit took a deep breath and pulled open the doors, cringing at the musty smell and coating of dust that covered the books inside.

He noticed a handful of pages squeezed between the books and carefully tugged them out, pissed at the fact he was having to do this.

He shut the cabinet and turned back to the main part of the library where he spent a little while searching for Virgils book but eventually found it.

He was about to put the pages in when suddenly the entire library went dark and started to shake.

Deceit immediately knew it was caused by Virgil and waited until after the shaking had stopped to quickly replace the memories, slam the book back where it was supposed to be and sprint back to where he’d left Virgil.

He turned a corner and heard footsteps coming from somewhere nearby so he quickly made himself invisible and leant against the wall so as to avoid being walked into.

Logan appeared and looked around as if he were expecting a monster to attack him. Deceit had to hold back a snort as he thought of how accurately that described Preston.

Once Logan had gone Deceit went back to Virgils room only to find the wall that he’d sealed was now pitch black.

With a gulp he unsealed the wall and stepped inside, his mouth open in shock as his eyes landed on Virgil.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roman was laying on his bed with his eyes shut, organising all the memories he’d regained because he had nothing better to do while he waited.

He had a sudden realisation that one of his memories didn’t involve being tortured which was strange because he didn’t understand why it’d be removed.

To try and figure out why he delved into the memory, triggering a flashback.

*flashback*

Roman was hiding behind a cluster of trees, his eyes locked onto a figure leaning against a tree just a few metres away.

The figure turned out to be Preston who had his eyes shut as smoke puffed out of his mouth from his cigarette and seemed to be muttering to himself.

Roman had become suspicious of the strange trait and had taken to spying on him when he got the chance because he seemed to have a weird effect on Thomas and it worried Roman slightly.

He strained his ears to hear what Preston was saying.

“So long to all of my friends  
Every one of them met tragic ends  
With every passing day  
I’d be lying if I didn’t say  
That I miss them all tonight  
And if they only knew what I would say” Prestons voice was surprisingly soft and melodic as he quietly sung to himself.

Roman was caught off guard by the complete change in behaviour, he was used to Preston being the smug aggressive asshole.

He was so surprised by what he’d overheard that he accidentally shifted his weight and caused a twig to snap under his feet.

Prestons eyes shot open and instantly locked onto where Roman was, his face twisted into a snarl while his face had gone bright red either from anger or embarrassment Roman wasn’t sure.

“What the fuck do you think you’re fucking doing?” Preston growled, storming towards Roman who backed away as fast as he could, stuttering as he tried to come up with an excuse.

Preston launched a fist towards his face and then everything went black.

*flashback end*

Romans eyes flew open as he absorbed this new information. He couldn’t understand why the memory had been removed but assumed it was due to Preston not wanting anyone to see him vulnerable.

He couldn’t quite place the song that he’d been singing but it had sounded so mournful coming from Prestons lips that there had to be some kind of significance to it.

He hummed the tune repeatedly to try and figure out what it was but nothing came to mind so he reached for his phone and searched the first line of lyrics.

His eyes widened as the first result popped up and he read that the song was by My Chemical Romance.

He read through the lyrics and couldn’t help but wonder why Preston had been singing it. Preston was narcissistic and a parasite who didn’t care about anyone but himself. Him singing a song about losing people was perplexing to say the least.

Roman played the song just to get a feel for the original and was pleasantly surprised. The only other MCR songs he’d really heard were the ones Virgil liked to blast out of his headphones.

He began trying to figure out if there were other memories like the one he’d just relived and he couldn’t find anything so he reopened his eyes.

He leant back against the wall, humming along to the song quietly as he started writing a text message to Logan. If anyone knew anything about Preston it would probably be him.

Roman froze midway through typing as he had a thought. Was it appropriate to ask Logan about Preston? Thinking it through it seemed like a good way to upset Logan which wasn’t what Roman wanted, he’d done that way too many times in the past.

He sighed and deleted what he’d already put, throwing his phone onto the bed next to him.

He was about to lay down when suddenly his room shook and the door reappeared.

Romans eyes widened and he snatched his phone back up, bounded over to the door and burst out into the corridor with a huge sigh of relief.

He glanced around, expecting Logan or even Patton to be there but found an empty corridor.

Last he remembered Patton had said something about Thomas so Roman decided that was where to search first.

When he appeared in Thomas’s kitchen and saw Patton and Thomas he couldn’t help but smile. He’d been starting to feel pretty lonely and he’d missed seeing the others.

“Roman? Is that you?” Patton asked in a cautious voice.

Roman was confused before he remembered that he’d told them he was trapped and someone had been masquerading as him.

“Patton it’s me. I was on the phone to you a little while ago and I warned you that someone was pretending to be me. I managed to get out of my room because my door reappeared.” Roman said, hoping it would be enough to prove his identity.

Patton looked at Roman with a small frown before asking “What did I tell you when we were in my room after Depression took Logan?”

“you said: we’ll all make it through this and become strong.” Roman answered and that was enough for Patton who enveloped him in a hug.

“Wait, what?” Thomas said looking between the two traits in bewilderment. “can someone please explain what’s been going on? I mean it’s my mind and everything, you’d think I’d know when stuff happened.”

Roman and Patton exchanged glances, having a silent conversation with their eyes as to if they were going to tell him everything or not.

Eventually they both looked at Thomas with serious expressions and Patton said “You’ll want to be sitting down for this so let’s go sit on the couch.”

When they were seated Patton launched into the story of what had been happening, leaving the part about him and Logan kissing out, and Roman would occasionally speak up with his own take on things.

Roman didn’t mention his and Virgils confessions though or the memories he’d regained because that seemed too personal. Neither of them felt the need to tell Thomas what Preston had done to Logan, feeling he wouldn’t be able to cope with knowing the full extent of Logans suffering.

Once their explanation was over Thomas was silent for a few minutes before he asked “Who was it that came and told me about how I have more traits who I haven’t met because they’re too weak to manifest in front of me?”

Roman and Patton were gobsmacked at that. “It must have been the one helping Preston.” Patton managed to get out while Roman struggled to come to terms with the knowledge one of the secondary traits had managed to accumulate enough power to manifest.

Thomas frowned. “I gathered that but who was he really? At the time I thought it was you Roman.”

Patton shifted uncomfortably as he realised who it had been and chose his words carefully “he’s the one responsible for the barrier being broken and has been helping Preston the entire time so he’s not to be trusted.”

Thomas wasn’t impressed by that answer. “Why can’t you just tell me?”

Patton sighed but Roman was the one who answered. “From the way Pattons acting I’m assuming it’s the person who has the ability to stop us talking about certain things.”

Patton nodded at that so Roman continued. “Things like his identity are part of topics we can’t discuss with you unless we want our mouths shut. Just know that he’s bad news and we’ll probably end up having to fight him too.”

Thomas leant back, his face angled up at the ceiling as he said “Why am I such a mess?”

Patton put a hand on his shoulder but Thomas didn’t acknowledge him, he just continued to look up at the ceiling.

“everything is going wrong. Prestons free, Virgils missing, one of my own traits is working with the embodiment of depression, I can’t trust that when you pop up that’s it’s actually you anymore and I just feel so damn empty and exhausted for no apparent reason.”

Thomas’s voice cracked and wavered on his last point, his eyes closing as he tried to keep himself composed.

Patton hunched over with his head in his hands as he mumbled “I’m sorry Thomas. This is all my fault.”

Roman opened his mouth to protest but Patton continued. “I’m basically your feelings and I’ve just been feeling so tired and numb which has obviously effected you so it’s my fault.”

Roman looked at Patton for a few seconds before sighing. “I think we all know that’s not true Patton. The only reason you’re feeling like that is because of Preston, he’s the one responsible.”

“speaking of Preston, what are we going to do to get rid of him now?” Thomas asked, worry evident in his voice. “The only option we had was the pills but they seemed to have vanished off of my bedside table.”

Roman was alarmed at that but fought it down to try and appear like there was nothing to worry about. “I will come up with something as soon as I can but for now push the thought from your mind.”

Thomas didn’t appear to be listening as he started shaking and gasping for breath.

“Thomas?” Patton asked in concern but Thomas didn’t answer as he started to find it harder to breathe and his eyes seemed to glaze over like he was seeing something other than what was actually around him.

“Virgil, I’m sorry.” Thomas choked out before his eyes rolled back into his head and the two traits were forced back into the mindspace due to him being unconscious.

“What the hell was that?” Roman asked but Patton was staring down the corridor with a fearful expression and a shaking hand raised pointing for Roman to turn around.

Roman turned and inhaled sharply as he saw the walls darkening and a greyish almost black fog start creeping towards them.

Roman said the first thing that came to his mind. “oh shit.”


	26. Anxious Mess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: panic attacks, violence, nightmares

Virgil had managed to calm himself down slightly but, barely a few moments after, he was hit by several memories from before he was a main trait which triggered a flashback.

*flashback *

Virgil was sitting curled up in a dark corner, shivering in fear as he glanced around himself searching for any sign of danger.

“Virge? Are you OK?” asked a voice.

Virgil didn’t respond he just curled up tighter and tried to blend in with the shadows.

The familiar mismatched eyes of Deceit loomed out of the darkness but they had no hint of sarcasm or smugness. Deceit crouched in front of Virgil with an odd expression on his face.

“it’s the nightmares again isn’t it?” he asked with a sad smile that looked strange on his scaled face.

Virgil shrugged, trying to avoid Deceits eyes but Deceit sighed and put his hands on Virgils shoulders. “Come spend some time with me and the others. We’ll keep your mind of it OK?”

Virgils eyes widened at that and he tried to stammer out a denial but Deceit shushed him and helped him to his feet. “you’re not doing yourself any favours by sitting in a corner.”

As Virgil was escorted out into a slightly less dark place he muttered “I don’t know if this will help.”

Deceit stopped and scowled at Virgil “Are you trying to say I don’t know what I’m doing?”

Virgil shook his head frantically at that and Deceit smirked “Just give it a go Virge, if it helps then we don’t mind all hanging out for a few hours. I’m pretty sure we can stand each other for that long anyway.”

“Oh Jakey boy!” called a high pitched voice making Virgil cringe and Deceit hiss out angrily “How many times have I told you not to call me that damn name?”

The person before them was wearing a bright yellow shirt with a lime green bandanna round their head and had a goofy smile on their face as they watched Deceits anger.

“Aw but Jakey poo how am I to resist when you’re being so unusually sweet towards our little Virgie wirgie?”

Virgil felt a bit annoyed at the nickname but couldn’t stop his lips from curving up at the completely insane trait in front of him.

“Look Luni he’s having those nightmares again so just shut it for once in your existence.” Deceit snapped.

Luni’s grin shrunk into a concerned little smile as he took a step towards Virgil. “Let’s go find our resident grouch potato and go bother him shall we Virgil?”

Virgil shrugged but Luni took that as a yes because he grabbed Virgil by the arm and started skipping back the way he’d come from, Deceit muttering and shaking his head as he followed behind them.

They came to a stop in front of an enormous squashy couch which at first Virgil thought was empty but when Luni called out “Hey Unwin, Virgils been having nightmares again.” a large cushion was pushed aside to reveal a scruffy looking person with large bags under his eyes like Virgils. He was dressed in pair of tracksuit bottoms that had seen better days and a shirt that was two sizes too big with a couple holes and stains on the front.

He looked over them with half lidded eyes as if he were about to fall asleep before he let out a loud sigh and muttered “Looks like we’ll be having another one of our ‘hangout’ sessions then.”

Luni cheered happily and leaped onto the couch without caring if he landed on Unwin or not.

Virgil tried to sit on the far end but was stopped as the irrational trait said “C'mon Virgil, this is to keep your mind off things, don’t make me drag you over here myself.”

Virgil reluctantly moved next to Luni who was bouncing in his seat and they were joined by Deceit who kept looking at Unwin like he’d just smelt something foul.

“Anything different about this nightmare?” Luni asked suddenly, turning to Virgil.

Virgil sighed and replied quietly “It was mostly the same but I heard voices coming from the smoke this time. I couldn’t make out what they were saying though.”

There was a short silence before Luni spoke again “what do you think would happen if we managed to get into the main mindspace?”

Virgil shrugged and turned to look at Deceit who he knew was the most eager to go to the main mindspace only to notice a scowl on his face.

“Maybe you should ask Jacob, he’s….” Unwin started to say with a sneer but Deceit raised a hand and shut him up using his ability.

Virgil started to pull his hood up as the usual bickering began, snickering quietly as Luni started belting out one of his made up songs at the top of his voice to drown out whatever Deceit was saying.

They may be a complete bunch of outcasts who argued at every opportunity but they were still his friends and sometimes the arguments were the best form of distraction.

*end of flashback*

Tears rolled down Virgils face as he remembered each time the odd group had helped him during panic attacks and after nightmares.

It had been many years since he’d seen them, not including Deceit or Jacob as Virgil now remembered he was called. A small smile twitched at his lips as he decided that every time he was called Virge he would call Deceit Jake.

His mind started drifting to the less pleasant parts though. The more violent arguments between Jacob and Unwin, the screams of rage from Luni when Unwin decided he’d had enough of everyone for a few days and would disappear with no warning and worst of all, the nightmares.

The nightmares he had nearly always involved him wandering through a brightly lit corridor until he came to a dead end and he’d turn around to see a large wall of black smoke slowly drifting closer.

It would engulf him and he would start struggling to breathe. Occasionally he’d hear voices and see shapes in the smoke but that was on rare occasions.

Virgils breathing started to pick up as he remembered the feelings of loneliness and his energy was starting to collide with his walls and floor, staining them even darker than they were before.

As the energy swirled around him he could hear very quiet voices and tried to scoot further away in alarm. This was just like his nightmares.

His back collided with a wall and the energy seemed to be pulsing. He felt his lungs aching as his breaths came out in pants and the energy seemed to be absorbing into him and then flowing back out.

The voices started getting louder until Virgil could make out the words “You failed.”

Virgil clamped his hands over his ears, trying to block out the voice but it was like it was right next to his ear. “You failed at getting rid of Preston. You failed as a friend to the others and as Thomas’s protector.”

Virgil shut his eyes and tried to calm himself down but the words the voice next spoke made him sob slightly.

“You’re a danger to Thomas now. Your friends will be forced to kill you and that will in turn destroy them. You’ve messed everything up badly this time.”

Virgils energy was swirling around him like a tornado and he was in the very eye of it, sobbing as he thought of how his plan had failed.

The energy pulsed and started to widen out as Virgil began to accept that what the voice was saying was true and then it suddenly seemed to explode outwards and disappear.

Virgil shook slightly, his mind buzzing with everything the voice had said and his face hidden behind his knees.

He still had his eyes shut so he didn’t notice the black smoke radiating from him like some weird version of dry ice.

The door opened and Virgil looked up, meeting the eyes of Deceit/Jacob.

Jacob was frozen in place, having gasped as he saw the eerie glowing eyes from beneath Virgils bangs.

“Virge?” he asked cautiously and flinched as Virgils lips twisted into a creepy smile.

“Jakey boy, I thought you’d forgotten about me.” Virgils voice was deeper and sinister sounding. “Just like everyone else.”

Jacob’s eyes widened as he realised what Virgil was saying. “They haven’t forgotten about you Virge. They’re incredibly worried actually, especially Roman.”

Virgils eyes dulled a little at the mention of Roman before they went back to full on glowing as Virgil laughed. “Wow I think that’s probably one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard. Deceit trying to convince me that everyone is worried, especially someone who’s proven in the past that he hates me. You’re skills are starting to lack a little.”

Jacob had a sudden realisation. Virgil had told him about the nightmares he used to have and this was just like one of them. The black smoke Virgil had been so scared of was his own energy and it seemed his fear of it taking over seemed to have come true.

“Roman doesn’t hate you. From what I understand you both confessed to have feelings for each other and the other lying thing stopping you from being together was the barrier.” Jacob was taking small steps forward while he spoke, hoping he could use his usual trick to calm him down.

Virgils eyes flickered back to their original colour for a few seconds before the glow came back again. “Even if that were true, there’s still no way of us being together because I am a danger to Thomas. Preston is a pathetic little fly bite compared to the impact I’ll have.”

“take deep breaths and calm yourself down then, we can sort everything out and work out ways to keep you from freaking out and affecting Thomas.” Jacob said, now almost within reach of Virgil.

Virgil let out a bitter laugh “Its too late for that Jake, I’m a failure and a danger, the only way out for me now is death.”

Jacob leapt forward and grabbed Virgils arm, pulling him in for a hug which caught the anxious trait by surprise.

“What… What are you doing?” Virgil gasped.

“I’m showing you that no matter what that voice in your head says, you are cared for and not just by me. I’m being 100% honest when I say the others think of you as part of the family. I know that if Luni and Unwin were here they’d tell you that as well. Don’t give up, show me that sarcastic, edgy little Virge that I remember.” Jacob said pouring as much sincerity as he could into his voice.

Virgil remained frozen before a few tears started to fall from his eyes and he slumped into Jacobs arms.

“I just feel so….. ” Virgil sobbed, unable to think of the correct word to describe all the emotions he was feeling.

Jacob tightened his arms and whispered “just remember how much everyone cares for you and needs you. Think of how Thomas will react when you tell him you’re not going anywhere.”

Virgil sobbed a few times before raising his head with a horrified gasp. “Oh no! I need to go check on Thomas!”

Jacob tried to stop him but Virgil vanished.

“Virgil! Where are you?” a voice suddenly shouted from outside the room. Jacob didn’t have enough time make himself invisible as the door was thrown open and standing there was Patton and Roman.

“Deceit!” Snarled Roman, taking a step forward as if he were going to attack.

Jacob groaned. “God fucking damn it. Why now of all times?”


	27. A Sight For Sore Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, violence, abuse, manipulation

Logan had decided to head back towards where the barrier had been to try and see if there were any clues as to where Virgil had gone.

He expected to see the shards of barrier and the torn up trees but what he hadn’t expected was to find Preston standing waiting for him.

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” Preston said with a smirk as Logan froze.

Preston stalked closer trying to hide the limp he now had and stopped right in front of Logan, a smug smirk on his face. “It seems you’re speechless, is it really that surprising? You knew the barrier was broken so why are you shocked to see me?”

Logan swallowed a couple times as he said in a quiet voice “I thought you’d be busy scheming, not standing here like you’re waiting for me.”

Preston chuckled at that “Aw, Logan don’t flatter yourself. I wasn’t waiting for you, I was actually waiting to hear back from my slippery friend to see if he was successful at distracting you all.”

Logan was taking deep breaths to keep himself calm as he looked Preston right in the eye without flinching. “You have friends now? That’s surprising considering how you act towards those you supposedly love.”

Prestons face showed his surprise at Logan saying that but a malicious grin spread across his lips. “The only thing I loved was hearing you scream and beg.”

Logan inhaled sharply at the harsh truth but made sure to keep his face blank as Preston continued, his voice shaking slightly the more he spoke.  
“You were so easy to deceive and so desperate for affection you didn’t even question my actions. That’s the thing about you ‘Logical’ traits. You’re weak at the first sign of love and when that love is removed you become a danger to your host and cause the others more problems until you start making your Host question whether it’s worth doing anything anymore and it gets to a point where….. ”

Logan had taken a step back in alarm as Prestons face seemed to twist up in agony for a second and his words cut off, his hands clenched into fists as he took a few breaths.

“What I meant to say is you’re a weak little nerd who is only good for being used.” Preston had composed himself enough that there was barely even a waver in his voice.

Logan managed to step out of the way in time as Preston tried to grab him and made sure there was a bit of distance between them.

“you can’t evade me forever Logan. Come here and I’ll be more lenient. If you make me chase you I’ll make you watch as I torture Thomas.” Preston tried to threaten but Logan had noticed the limp and was fairly sure he could now at least outrun Preston if it came to it.

Suddenly black smoke began to float towards them, hiding the ground as it swirled around their ankles and caused the mindspace to darken.

“Looks like Virgil has decided to do my job for me. Guess I’ll have time for one last cigarette and then I need to get to work or I’ll miss all the fun.” Preston said, eyeing the smoke warily.

Logans eyes widened at that and wasted no time in sprinting towards where the smoke was coming from but suddenly something wrapped around his legs and he felt himself being dragged back towards Preston.

“Did I say you could go? I seem to remember how much you enjoyed when I shared my cigarettes with you before, shall we share one last one for old times sakes?” Preston taunted as Logan struggled and squirmed to get away.

“Let me go!” Logan shouted, eyeing the bonds around his ankles in confusion. The rope had seemingly been conjured from nowhere and he couldn’t recall anyone except Roman being able to conjure stuff.

“Do you want the first little bit?” Preston asked holding out a cigarette with a lit tip which caused a jolt of fear to run through Logan.

Logan quickly rolled out of the way as Preston tried to burn him and managed to slip the rope off of his legs.

Preston laughed and put the cigarette in his mouth, watching Logan with amusement. “I’ll have the first few puffs then.”

Logan pushed himself to his feet and was still trying to figure out the conjuring thing so this time when Preston made a grab for him he didn’t dodge in time.

Preston grinned as he tugged Logan closer until their faces were inches from each other. “Not so fast that time were you?” he mocked, blowing smoke into Logans face making him cough.

Preston took the cigarette out of his mouth and pressed his lips against Logans, trying to prove that Logan was still just as weak as before.

Logan shoved him backwards, making Preston stumble as he put weight on his injured leg and giving Logan the chance to run again.

This time Preston was too busy cursing in agony from his leg to be able to grab Logan so he managed to escape.

Logan ran through the main mindspace and found Roman, Patton and Deceit standing in the corridor in some kind of standoff.

“I’m not going to ask so nicely next time so just tell me what really happened!” Roman demanded.

Deceit had a scowl on his face “I already fucking told you, you simpleton. I was trying to help Virgil calm down!”

Logan came to a stop next to the group, panting from running and gesturing over his shoulder as he tried to pant out a warning about Preston.

“Spit it out bed-warmer.” Deceit muttered and had to jump backwards to avoid Romans katana which swung down in the spot he’d just been.

Logan ignored the comment in favour of saying “Preston is back there and he said something about Virgil doing his job for him.”

Roman gulped as he remembered the conversation he’d had with Virgil about how he was becoming worse than Preston and completely forgot about his attempt at stabbing Deceit.

Patton who had been silent this entire time muttered “We need to find Virgil and try and keep him calm while also distracting Preston.”

Logan sent a calculating look over at Deceit. “Well considering he’s waiting for his 'slippery friend’ as he put it, why not use him to distract Preston?”

Deceit shook his head at that. “No, you don’t understand, I can keep Virgil calm. You can figure out some plan to distract that depraved idiot but leave me out of it.”

Roman glared at him and muttered “Or we can just put an end to you right here, right now if you’d prefer.”

Logan and Patton exchanged looks of confusion at how Deceit spoke about Preston but didn’t comment.

“Alright fine!” Deceit hissed as Roman pointed the katana at him again. “I’ll distract that fool but only if you make sure Virgil is OK.”

Roman scowled at that “Why are you so obsessed with him?”

Deceit opened his mouth to respond but Patton beat him to it. “They’re like brothers but Deceit became jealous of Virgil when he was made a main trait.”

Roman and Logan looked at Patton in surprise while Deceit glared at the dad trait.

“It wouldn’t have been half as bad if Virgil actually remembered me and the others but a certain someone decided to remove his memories!” Deceit growled.

Patton raised an unimpressed eyebrow at Deceit. “You think I found joy in removing those memories? It was necessary because it was the only way I could stop him from screaming and crying himself to sleep each night because he missed you all and didn’t want to be a main trait. It was affecting both him and Thomas negatively so I did what I had to do.”

Logan and Roman had horrified expressions on their faces as they remembered the first few weeks when Virgil had caused so much difficulty for Thomas and after Roman lost his temper and lashed out at Virgil all the problems seemed to stop.

Roman had apologised nearly immediately after he’d hit Virgil but Logan and he had both assumed that had scared Virgil into behaving. They never would have thought Patton would remove memories.

Deceit was shaking with anger as Patton defended the removal of Virgils memories but managed to calm himself down as he remembered they didn’t have much time.

“We can fight over this later, right now we need to get a move on. I’ll go distract the fuckboi while you go check on Virgil and make sure he’s not having a breakdown.” Deceit said in a forced calm voice

“How exactly do you plan on distracting him? Won’t he suspect you?” Roman asked, having recovered from the shock.

Deceit grinned and shut his eyes, changing his appearance.

The three main traits gasped as Deceit turned into Logan.

“Whoa! I don’t like you but that was cool.” Roman said in awe.

Logans jaw had dropped and he was impressed but the reality of what Deceit was about to do suddenly hit him.

“You’re going to pretend to be me?” he asked.

Deceit nodded and the other two frowned at why Logan seemed so concerned.

“Do you know how he treats me?” Logan asked in a shaky voice.

Deceit winced and nodded.

“What? What’s wrong Logan?” Roman asked in confusion.

Logan sighed “Preston will think he’s me and everyone here knows how badly he treated me. He actually almost managed to burn me just now but I managed to get away because he’s injured his leg somehow and when he kissed me I shoved him backwards.”

Patton looked pissed off at the thought of Preston kissing Logan but focused back on Deceit as Roman spoke up.

“You’re…. Willing to go through something like that to help us?” Roman asked.

Deceit scowled at that. “No. I’m willing to do this for Virgil.”

Roman shrugged “That’s good enough for me.”

Patton sighed and muttered “Good luck.”

Logan remained silent so Deceit turned to start walking towards where Preston was but Logans voice made him turn back around.

“Just…. Be careful. I wouldn’t wish him on anyone. Not even you.”

Deceit smirked “Don’t worry about me, this is my job. Now go make sure Virgils OK.”

Deceit walked out of the main mindspace, sealing it off so Preston couldn’t get in and the others couldn’t get to where Preston was.

He made his face look panicked as if he were Logan and had been sealed out of the main mindspace.

The hardest part about this was going to be making it through all the things Preston was sure to do to him but he reasoned that if Logan could make it through it for a year or two then he could manage to get through a few hours.


	28. Deceiving Depression

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, torture, violence, abuse, manipulation

Deceit could hear Preston coming so he turned his back so he was facing the wall he’d pulled up and made his shoulders shake like he was trying not to cry.

Preston smirked at the sight of Logan in front of the wall that he knew didn’t belong there. “Back so soon Logan?” he asked in a taunting voice.

Deceit quickly replied in a voice full of fear “G… Go away.”

Preston chuckled and stepped forward grabbing Logan by the shoulders and turning him round. “Looks like my slippery little friend has trapped you with me. I’ll be sure to thank him later for giving me the opportunity to play with my favourite toy.”

Deceit felt sick as he thought of what that might entail but made sure to react like Logan would, trying to flinch away and shaking his head.

“Aw what’s wrong? Maybe a little bit of nicotine will help calm you down.” Preston said and before Deceit could respond there was a white hot pain in his arm as Preston pressed the lit end of a cigarette into his skin.

Deceit let out a shriek of pain and struggled in Prestons hold, tiring out quicker than usual due to the effort he was expending to keep both the wall and the Logan disguise in place.

Preston laughed and pushed him against the wall, his hand reaching for the extraordinarily sharp hunting knife strapped to his hip.

Deceits eyes widened as a blade was pushed against his neck and Preston whispered “You’re going to do exactly what I say or you’ll be my first blood with this knife. It’s incredibly sharp and I bet I could slice through your skin like a hot knife through butter.”

Deceit closed his eyes and tried to ignore the knife as he mumbled “OK, just don’t hurt me.”

Preston grinned and said “Put your hands out in front of you.”

Deceit reluctantly did as he was told and rope suddenly appeared around his wrists, binding them together tightly. He picked up on the way Preston had managed to conjure the ropes almost effortlessly but didn’t have time to dwell on it as Preston began speaking again.

“Now, because you ran from me earlier I’m afraid I’m not going to be very lenient on you and this knife does need to be broken in.”

Deceit eyed the knife which was being held hovering just away from his skin and braced himself, already knowing what was going to happen.

Preston touched the point of the blade against Logans arm and trailed it down, smiling as it caused a long thin scratch to appear and blood started trickling out immediately.

Deceit shook as he held back a noise of pain, trying not to give Preston any satisfaction and not wanting to blow his cover as Logan, who probably didn’t react as much to what Preston was doing anymore due to being used to it.

Preston trailed the knife back up Logans arm, pushing on it harder and revelling in the blood that began to pour out and the cry of pain that left Logans lips.

“I’ve missed this while being trapped in that fucking bubble, but there are other things I’ve missed as well.” Preston growled in Logans ear making him shudder.

Deceit was trying not to panic as he realised what exactly Preston meant. He had a few limited options and none of them were appealing. There hadn’t nearly been enough time for the others to make sure Virgil was OK but Deceit wasn’t sure if he could go through with this.

Prestons lips collided with his and he reeled backwards in disgust which caused Preston to hit him with the handle of the knife.

“Do as I say or pay the price!” Preston snarled and Deceit suddenly had an idea.

“W…wouldn’t you rather do this somewhere more…. Comfortable?” he asked, stumbling over the words slightly.

Preston tilted his head and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What do you mean by that?”

Deceit swallowed nervously as he said “I mean surely you’d like to do it in a bed rather than…. Here on the floor.”

Preston stared at him for a minute which made Deceit freak out slightly wondering if he’d been too out of character.

“That’s a good point, good to know that even in this sort of situation you’re still able to be logical.” Preston said with a laugh and started to drag Deceit back over to the imagination forest.

Deceit was glad his plan was working. The longer it took for Preston to actually do what he wanted, the more time the others had. He just crossed his fingers that he could stall long enough that he wouldn’t need to actually do anything with Preston.

Preston suddenly stopped as they reached the outskirts of the imagination forest. “oh yeah, I could have just conjured a bed, I forgot I could do that for a few seconds there.”

Preston glanced at Logan who looked to be frowning about what he’d just said and let out a crazed cackle “Oh just look at your mind go, trying to work out everything I say. I bet you’re wondering how I can conjure stuff huh? Well let’s make a little game of it. For every piece of information you want to know, you have to either remove an item of clothing or I get to punish you.”

Deceit gulped but decided he’d rather play along and try and get some sort of information from Preston while also prolonging what Preston wanted to do.

Preston seemed to know he’d agreed because he smiled and said “First question.”

Deceit stuttered out “H… How come y…. You can conjure s… Stuff?”

Preston grinned unpleasantly as he replied “That’s one of my abilities. Now what’s it gonna be an item of clothing or….”

Preston didn’t even have to finish his sentence before Deceit pulled off a shoe, his plan being to remove all the items of clothing that didn’t leave him exposed and then deal with the pain if he had any other questions.

Preston scowled at the shoe being the first item but didn’t say anything except “Next question.”

Deceits mouth went dry as he asked a question that had been bothering him for a while about Preston. “Where did you come from? You’re not a part of Thomas so…”

Preston seemed to wince slightly and his face darkened as he forced a ton of memories away. “That question is a very expensive one and I’ll only answer it if you remove your shirt and three other items of clothing.”

Deceit was caught off guard by that and quickly thought of things he could take off without being too exposed.

He pulled off the other shoe, both socks and then slowly started unbuttoning the shirt, his hands shaking so it was more difficult, especially considering his hands were still bound.

Preston let out a small growl and pulled Logan closer by the tie still around his neck. “Oops, did I say three? I meant all of them.”

Deceit froze at that and shuddered. There was no way he was taking anything else off, even if it meant hearing the answer to his question. He wasn’t some idiot who’d do anything for a scrap of information that Preston would probably refuse to give or would completely bullshit.

“I…. I’m not taking anything else off.” Deceit declared and Preston grinned.

“looks like you won’t get to hear my oh so tragic back story then.”

Deceit choked slightly as Preston pulled on the tie so it tightened to the point it was difficult to breathe and continued to talk in an almost hysterical voice. “You won’t get to hear how I became Preston, the cruel yet hella attractive sadist. I mean fucking hell have you seen me? I’m hot stuff!”

Deceit raised his bound hands up to pull the tie loose but found himself being shoved backwards and as he tripped and fell his back landed on something soft and springy.

He screeched out a noise of panic as he recognised it as a bed and thrashed around, tugging on the rope round his wrists in an attempt at pull it off.

His concentration wavered slightly and his hold on the wall sealing off the main mindspace failed so the wall disappeared leaving it open once more.

He managed to keep up the Logan disguise though, which was slightly easier than bending the mindspace to do what he wanted.

Preston heard the rumble of the wall moving and looked over to where the entrance to the main mindspace was, wondering if Deceit or one of the others was going to walk out.

While Preston was distracted Deceit managed to free his hands and rolled off the bed, pulling the tie over his head so he could breathe properly again.

Preston looked back round at where Logan had been and had a crazed glint in his eyes as he said “I’m starting to feel like you’re disobeying me, do I need to remind you why that’s a bad idea?”

Deceit backed away, eyes wide as he watched Preston pull out the knife again. He knew he’d barely been through anything compared to all the others but he had no desire to be on the receiving end of that knife again so he turned and started to run.

Preston let out a string of curses and started to run after Logan, wincing and snarling as his leg throbbed and ached.

Deceit had run further into the imagination forest, hoping to lose Preston among the tree’s but wherever he went he found himself unable to shake him.

He had no idea how long he’d been running for and as he burst into the same clearing for the third time he let out a small sob of despair.

“Logan! You can’t escape me!” came the singsong taunt from Preston who was leaning against a tree, cleaning his nails with the knife.

Deceit backed up, panting from exhaustion but Preston suddenly appeared directly behind him. “Looks like I’ve recovered enough from those horrible meds that I can teleport again.”

Deceit spun round in alarm and tripped over, crawling backwards rapidly to try and get away.

Preston reappeared right next to him again and Deceit couldn’t help but shout in frustration “How can you do that?”

Preston grinned as he leant over Logan. “Are we back to playing our little game again?”

Deceit shook his head, not trusting his voice at this point and Preston pouted “Aw, I so wanted to watch you squirm as you took everything off but I suppose I’ll just have to to settle for doing it myself.”

Deceit took a few deep breaths as he tried to hold back the hysterical sobs that were shaking his body. “You’re…. A fucking Psychopath!” he spat, batting away Preston hands as he tried to remove his trousers.

Preston let out a full blown roar of laughter “I prefer Creative. It definitely fits me better.” he suddenly waved his hand and rope once again appeared round Deceits wrists.

Deceits eyes were locked onto Preston in horror as he suddenly realised something. “Y… You’re…..” he stuttered but cut himself off with his own scream as Preston lodged his knife into his shoulder.

“Oops, I didn’t quite hear what you were going to say. It sounded like you were about to apologise for making me chase after you.” Preston said in a casual voice.

Deceit had to focus everything he had into not dropping the Logan disguise as the pain in his shoulder radiated through him. When he managed to stop himself screaming he sent a glare up at Preston who didn’t seem at all phased.

“I… Was going to say…..” Deceit gasped out “That you’re Tristans Creativity.”

Preston let out a snarl of rage and pulled the blade out of his shoulder only to plunge it into Logans leg.

Deceits throat was red raw from screaming and his disguise as Logan flickered and fell, leaving him in his original form once more.

Prestons face went from shocked to a feral snarl as he growled “You! I thought you were on my side!”

Deceit managed to send Preston a grin through his pain as he rasped out “Hi nice to meet you I’m Deceit. It’s kind of my thing, nothing personal.”

Preston pulled his knife out of Deceits leg and started pacing, his mind running through all the things he wanted to do to him but not being able to decide which.

Deceit could feel himself getting weaker from blood loss and the exhaustion brought on by using his abilities for so long without a break but he refused to close his eyes, no matter how tempting it was.

Preston was at an impasse. On one hand he wanted to just kill the lying snake right there and then but he also wanted to break the others by doing it in front of them. He took out a small portion of his anger by delivering a swift hard kick to the side of Deceits head, knocking him out cold.

Preston had some planning to do.


	29. Delusional

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Violence, panic attacks

As a wall appeared, blocking off the entrance to the main mindspace Roman turned to the others and said “Now let’s go check on Virgil and Thomas.”

In a few seconds they appeared in Thomas’s apartment to a terrifying scene.

Both Thomas and Virgil were on the floor but the difference between them was while Thomas muttered “It’s all my fault.” Virgil was muttering “Everyone hates me.”

Logan and Patton sprang forward to try and calm Thomas, leaving Roman to calm Virgil.

“Virgil? It’s me Roman.” Roman whispered placing a hand on Virgils shoulder.

Virgil looked up with glazed eyes and flinched away with a terrified expression. “Get away from me!” Virgil shouted.

Roman jolted back in surprise as black energy started to seep out of Virgils skin and his eyes began to glow.

“Virgil, don’t you remember the conversation we had that night we stayed up talking?” Roman asked, hoping that it would snap Virgil out of his state.

“I said go away! You hate me so why are you even here!” Virgil shrieked and a blast of energy sent Roman flying backwards.

Patton and Logan stared at Virgil half terrified, half concerned.

Virgils energy started to spread through the room and when it came into contact with Thomas’s skin he let out a scream of pure agony.

Roman pushed himself to his feet ignoring the ache in his back and grabbed Virgil to try and create distance between him and Thomas.

Virgil thrashed around in Romans hold, shouting and crying about how everyone hated him and how he was a monster.

Patton and Logan managed to move Thomas onto the stairs away from the energy so he stopped screaming.

“Thomas! Breathe! Focus on me and copy my breathing!” Logan said loudly to be heard over Virgil.

Roman had Virgils wrists in one hand and another one around his torso to try and minimise the amount of damage Virgil could cause to both Roman and himself.

“Virgil, please, you need to breathe. Your affecting Thomas and your energy is going crazy.” Roman muttered in Virgils ear, letting out a relieved breath as Virgil howled in misery and slumped in his arms sobbing.

“Why am I such a failure? Everything I do goes wrong and makes whatever situation I was trying to fix get ten times worse! I’ve fucked up so badly this time.”

Logan and Patton managed to get Thomas almost back to himself and then noticed that there was an angry red mark where the energy had touched his skin.

“ V… Virgil?” Thomas gasped, his eyes searching the room desperately and filling with tears as he saw the state he was in. “Virgil!”

Virgil cringed at the sound of Thomas’s voice and pulled away from Roman, his eyes flitting over possible escape routes.

He made a dash for the front door but Patton stepped in the way with his hands up, trying to show he wasn’t a threat. “Virgil, we’re trying to help.” he said in a soft voice.

Virgils eyes were wide and wild, the glow from before brightening as black smoke wrapped around him like some sort of cloak.

Thomas took a few breaths before speaking again, his voice still a bit breathless “Virgil, don’t blame yourself for any of this. None of this was your fault.”

Virgil was standing in the middle of the room, his head turning every direction in search of a way out and not even listening to what Thomas was saying.

He froze suddenly, his eyes looking slightly unfocused as he appeared to zone out.

“You hurt Thomas, did you hear his scream? They’re all thinking of some way to take you down before you hurt him again.” the voice Virgil had heard before in his room suddenly spoke up.

“I…. I didn’t mean to!” Virgil choked out “I can’t control it!”

The voice scoffed “you can’t control your own energy? Are you sure? Maybe there’s a subconscious part of you that wants to hurt Thomas for how he and the others treat you.”

Virgil shook his head and grabbed handfuls of his hair as he tried to deny what the voice was saying “I don’t want to hurt him! I don’t want to hurt any of them!”

The others were staring at Virgil in concern but suddenly a voice that barely sounded like Virgil came from his lips.

“Who are we kidding, you wished so many times that they’d feel all the pain you were feeling and now you’re in a situation where you can fulfil that wish.”

There was a tense silence as Virgil hunched over, his whole body quivering as he muttered the word no repeatedly.

Roman slowly approached Virgil again and said in a quiet voice “Virgil, this isn’t you. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

Logan, who was standing in front of Thomas just in case, looked at Patton and nodded his head towards Virgil while tapping the side of his head.

Patton looked confused for a moment but eventually managed to work out what Logan was trying to say. He closed his eyes and focused on all the love and care and concern he had for Virgil and tried to push it towards Virgil.

There seemed to be some sort of resistance that rebounded all the feelings back at Patton, making him stumble backwards.

Virgil stood up straight, his eyes closed and his face blank as he slowly turned to face where Patton was.

“That was quite a good effort but none of the emotions you have towards us are going to undo all the torment and pain we’ve been through all these years.” Virgil said in the weird voice again.

Patton gasped and felt a judder of fear run through him as Virgils eyes opened to show that they weren’t glowing this time, they were now the same colour as the energy.

“Who are you referring to when you use the term ‘us’?” Logan asked and Virgil turned to look at him with a still blank expression.

“Logan, I thought you were supposed to be intelligent. Surely you can figure such a simple thing out.” Virgils voice was mocking and a slight smirk tugged at his lips.

Logan grit his teeth in annoyance. “You refer to yourself as both a separate entity and an indistinguishable part of Virgil, which doesn’t tell us who you are.”

Virgil tilted his head with a creepy smile. “I’m Virgil.”

Roman tried to step closer but Virgil raised a hand and black energy suddenly wrapped around Roman, keeping him in place.

“You’re not Virgil. Virgil isn’t like this.” Roman growled out struggling to get free of the smoke.

Virgil let out a small humourless laugh “The Virgil you thought you knew was nothing more than a pathetic attempt to deny who we really are. We are stronger than you all and shouldn’t have had to take all that shit. Preston is a mere inconvenience that will be easily brushed aside but our real issue is you lot. With all your 'We care about you, honest.’ please, don’t make me laugh. You may have been able to fool us before but I’m calling you out on your fake bullshit.”

Thomas had tears running down his face as he stared at Virgil. He didn’t believe a word that was being said but the tiniest little itch in his mind wondered if it could be true.

“Why don’t you believe us?” Patton asked in a sad voice.

Virgil snorted “It probably has something to do with how you all treated us. The judgement and mistrust because you all saw us as the bad guy.”

“We were wrong to treat you like that and we really do care about you.” Roman said desperately.

Virgils face went blank as he stared at Roman. “Do you know how long it took for him to recover from when you hit us? We were terrified of you for months, half expecting you to lash out whenever you got angry. Don’t stand there and say you care when you acted so like Preston.”

Roman physically recoiled at Virgils words and his bottom lip quivered as he tried to stop himself crying. Virgil or whatever it was that was controlling Virgil did have a point.

Here he was acting like he was innocent when he knew he’d done and said some stuff he deeply regretted. All the pain he’d caused Logan and the number of times he’d shouted at Virgil in an attempt at venting some of his anger and frustration.

Roman took a few breaths before saying in a shaky voice “I wish I could go back in time and change the way I acted but I can’t. All I can do is apologise and tell you that I really care about you and I don’t want to lose you.”

Virgil froze, his eyes fixed on Roman. “Y…. You’re lying. Trying to catch me off guard so you can kill me.” he accused.

Roman let out a small sob and the tears he’d been holding back flowed down his cheeks. “I’m being honest Virgil. I…. I love you.”


	30. What Happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Violence, panic attacks

Everyone in the room was now staring at Roman with shocked expressions, none of them having expected him to say that.

Sure Thomas had known he had feelings for Virgil and Patton had sort of guessed but neither of them had expected him to already be so smitten with the youngest trait.

Virgil himself was unable to tear his eyes away from the sobbing trait in front of him, his mind in complete chaos as he struggled to absorb what Roman had just said.

“You….. You…” he whispered, unable to form coherent sentences.

Roman nodded and something in Virgils mind seemed to snap as he sank to the floor with a loud cry of anguish.

The voice from before was loud and obnoxious in his head but even in his delusional state he could hear the sincerity of Romans confession.

“He’s lying! They all hate you! It’s all fake!” the voice shouted but Virgil shook his head and yelled back “Get out of my head! You’re wrong!”

Roman felt the energy trapping him suddenly release him and watched as all the energy in the room started to swirl around Virgil like an isolated tornado.

“Why would he love you? You’re a monster! You’re going to kill Thomas!” the voice insisted “You are a danger to everyone here and we both know the best way to stop you is death.”

Virgil let out a sob as he remembered the way Thomas had screamed and how his energy was responsible.

The voice seemed to pick up on Virgils weakness because it said “You almost destroyed the mindspace with the energy, how do you expect to be able to go back to the way things used to be when a small panic attack could result in Thomas going into a coma? Face the facts, deep down you’re a dangerous animal.”

“Virgil?” Roman asked in a soft voice, ignoring the others and how they were still staring at him.

Virgils eyes locked with his and he noticed how they seemed to be changing from normal to all black and back again, as if Virgil was having some kind of battle with himself.

The voice in Virgils head let out a predatory growl and tried to send the energy blasting towards Roman but Virgil let out a shriek “No! I won’t let you hurt him!”

The energy missed Roman and instead crashed into the TV, sending debris everywhere. Virgil looked shocked at managing to redirect the energy but his eyes turned back to black as he lost control again.

The energy spread out across the room, wrapping around the ankles of Roman and Patton until they couldn’t move.

Logan and Thomas, who were on the stairs, could only watch as Virgil got to his feet and smirked at Roman.

“Oh that was clever. You nearly got to him but he’s too weak to fight at this point. I didn’t expect you to say what you did and neither did he but it doesn’t matter because it’s all lies.”

Romans face was tracked with tears as he tried to move towards Virgil but couldn’t. “Who even are you?” he asked in frustrated voice.

Virgil sighed and rolled his pitch black eyes. “I already said, I’m Virgil. I guess the more accurate answer would be I’m the Virgil that you all fear and that he tries to pretend doesn’t exist but it’s all the same thing.”

Roman remembered what Virgil had said before about how the medication was taking away the rules and limits he had set himself so he didn’t become a monster. He hadn’t realised Virgil had meant that literally.

“Deceit knows about all this doesn’t he?” Patton asked.

Virgil turned to look at Patton with a grin “ah, Jakey boy, he did try to ‘calm Virgil down’ as he puts it but I convinced Virgil to check on Thomas and here we are.”

Patton exchanged a worried look with Logan as Virgil continued “If snakey Jakey really cared he’d be here but I guess his jealousy got the better of him because I don’t see any sign of him.”

“He does care and he wanted to come find you but….” Roman managed to get out but trailed off as he realised something. “That mist that was winding around our ankles as we talked in the mindspace…. You…. You influenced us into forcing Deceit to distract Preston!”

Virgil let out a chuckle “Oh, well done Roman. You’re not just a pretty face after all.”

“w… Why? If you’re truly a part of Virgil surely you must care for Deceits well being? You know what Preston is capable of yet you don’t seem to be phased by the idea of Deceit suffering through that.” Logan asked, his voice wobbling at the thought of what Preston might be doing.

“Jacob is of little concern to me because he is just one more thing holding me back from reaching complete control. So no I don’t care what Preston is doing to him right now and I would happily watch if it weren’t for weak little Virgils want to save his 'friends’.” The cold uncaring tone made everyone in the room shudder.

Patton had a thoughtful expression on his face as he pieced together what Virgil had said. “Complete control? What does that mean?”

Virgil scowled at Patton “You’re incredibly nosy, did you know that?”

A tendril of energy suddenly wrapped around Pattons mouth, stopping him from speaking.

Thomas, who had been watching silently the entire time, suddenly stood up and frowned. He’d had an idea.

“Virgil, or whoever you are, I get that you’re powerful and everything but it’s still my mind. I am not going to sit and watch you do all this when I’m sure I have the power to stop you.”

Virgil was staring at him with a raised eyebrow and an arrogant smile on his face, his eyes still black. “oooh what are you going to do? You gonna tell me what I’m doing is wrong and cry at me?”

Thomas shivered but stared Virgil directly in the eyes as he said “No, I’m going to force you to let Patton and Roman go.”

Virgil laughed so Thomas took a deep breath and did something he’d only ever done once in his life.

“Anxiety! That is what you are! I am strong enough to overcome you and you do not control me or my life. You have no sway over me and you can’t ignore me when I tell you what to do.”

Virgil let out a gasp and clutched his chest, his eyes flicking from black to normal and back again. A loud growl came from his mouth and he took a few steps towards Thomas but he stumbled and sank to his knees.

“N… No! What are you…. Doing?” Virgil shouted.

“Thomas?” Roman asked with a worried look.

Thomas had tears running down his face but he kept his eyes on Virgil.

“You can’t hurt the others or me! Let them go!” he commanded and Virgil started to pant as the black energy wrapped around Pattons mouth and legs slowly started to retract.

Roman looked down and found the energy round his ankles also retreating until all the energy was shimmering up across Virgils skin.

Thomas took another deep breath and said “Virgil, I know this isn’t you so please please forgive me for using this tactic on you. I have no other choice.”

Virgils eyes widened and the black vanished for a second as Virgil panted out “Thomas…. I’m sorry….” then the black came back full force.

Thomas reached out his hands and placed them on Virgils shoulders while saying “You’re nothing. I will not be controlled by my anxiety.”

Virgil let out a small shriek and collapsed, the energy disappearing into his now unconscious form.

Thomas fell to his knees next to Virgil, sobs shaking his body as he ran a hand through Virgils hair.

“ What…… What was that?” Roman asked in a shocked voice.

Thomas sniffed and wiped his face as he looked up at his creativity. “A long time ago Virgil was doing his usual job of making me anxious and although I was panicky I had a huge build up of annoyance and anger. I was so annoyed at how Virgil always seemed to show up at the least convenient time and I ended up shouting at him to leave me alone and that he was just anxiety, he didn’t have complete control of me or my life. He had this weird reaction and ended up collapsing, I immediately felt bad so I sat with him until he regained consciousness. He was in tears and looked so scared when he saw me that I promised myself that no matter how annoying he was I would never do that again. He explained to me at a later date that because I’m the host I have the power to reign in you guys or grant you more control when I deem it fit. I never wanted to have to do this again but it was the only way.”

Roman knelt next to Thomas and engulfed him in a hug. They were joined by Patton while Logan knelt the other side of Virgil, an expression of intense concentration on his face as he looked at the unconscious trait.

Thomas sighed and pulled out of the hug. “What even was that? Do you think it was Preston trying to take him over or something?”

Roman shook his head “Virgils had that weird energy stuff for a while now and if anything Preston looked like he was scared of it. Well as scared as Preston is capable of looking anyway.”

“Roman? You know earlier…” Patton said and Roman cut him off “I meant every word.”

Roman ignored the looks he was getting and continued “That night after Logan healed his back Virgil woke up and we both sort of confessed to having feelings for each other. He got a little hysterical and said how typical it was that he’d found love yet couldn’t truly experience it. He warned me that the medication was tearing down limits he’d set himself to prevent him becoming a monster. He made me promise that no matter if he begged to be let out of the barrier that I had to keep making Thomas take the pills. I… I failed him.”

Roman broke down crying and Patton instantly wrapped his arms around him, tears slipping down his own face.

Thomas looked over at Logan and noticed how he seemed to be focused on something. He wasn’t sure what he was doing but he didn’t want to ask and break his concentration.

Thomas didn’t have to wait for long because Logan suddenly gasped and fell backwards, a look of horror on his face.

“Logan? What happened?” Thomas asked, drawing the attention of the other two.

“I was delving into Virgils mind to see what was going on, I’ve always had a way with memories you see, and it’s complete chaos. The thing that was controlling Virgil is something he accidentally mentally created. He must have seen his energy as a whole other creature or person and somehow it became sentient. He and his energy are at war because his energy wishes to hurt and destroy while he is obviously of the opposite opinion. The only two things they both seem to be able to agree on is that Preston needs to be taken down and…. ” Logan suddenly cut off as his hand clamped over his mouth.

The others were too busy taking in the information to notice that Logan hadn’t voluntarily done so.

“They… Don’t… Need… To… Know that….” a quiet voice in his head said, seemingly out of breath.

Logan managed to hold back a yelp of surprise as he recognised the voice. “don’t… Tell… Them…. About… It…. I’ll…. Fix everything…”

Logan didn’t know whether he was able to trust the literal embodiment of deceit but considering he knew the snake faced trait cared for Virgil he decided to listen.

“I… Need you…. To go… Look into… Something…. Preston isn’t who…. He says he is…. He used to be…. The creativity of someone called… Tristan… There are… Probably old memories… Or something… I’ll try and get more…. Information…. If I can…. Also… Don’t tell anyone… About the other thing… You saw in… Virges mind…. I’ll find a way to fix…. Him… ”

With the skill of someone who’d been hiding their real emotions for years Logan kept his face blank, not letting the others know he was having a conversation with a very exhausted sounding Deceit.

He recognised the name Tristan for some reason but couldn’t quite place it and the fact that Preston used to be the creative trait of someone made everything make much more sense.

Preston was very familiar with how the mindspace worked and had remarked about how logical traits were weak, meaning he’d had some experience with other traits before.

The only real question was what happened to make him the way he was?

Logan planned to find out.


	31. The Memories Won't Leave Me Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, violence, character death, gore, vomiting

Preston sat on a conjured chair next to Deceits unconscious body. He was frowning at the strange greyness that had spread up his leg and was now spreading up his hip, flakes falling off whenever he moved.

It was mildly concerning and he knew that he had a limited amount of time before he’d have to leave anyway but he planned on destroying Thomas before time ran out.

He didn’t know if he would be able to come back a third time now they all knew about him and probably would have recovered by the time he was able to come back, so he needed to do this quickly and efficiently.

He felt a bout of dizziness hit him and groaned in annoyance. He had tried everything he could to keep all his pesky memories from returning but they always seemed to find a way back.

His vision blurred as he was sucked into a flashback.

*flashback*

A teenage Preston was in a forest practising his duelling. He prided himself on his masterful ability to cut down his enemies and he also loved the way the blade sung as it sliced through the air.

He froze as he heard a familiar voice from nearby.

“Cayden! Are you in here?”

Preston turned around to see an almost identical teenager appear from the trees dressed in a bright shirt and jeans.

“Paxton, what brings you in here?” Preston asked.

The boy now identified as Paxton let out a small sigh. “Tristan is ignoring me again and I can’t find Liam anywhere.”

Preston sheathed his sword and walked closer to Paxton. “Do you want me to help you look?”

Paxton nodded. “I thought maybe he’d be watching you practice because he doesn’t seem to be anywhere in the main mindspace.”

Preston frowned at that. “That’s unlike him. He rarely ventures too far because he knows how much we rely on him to get through to Tristan.”

Paxtons expression was worried as they walked through the trees and Preston grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find him. Just take a few deep breaths and calm down.” Prestons voice was soft and comforting as he pulled Paxton in for a hug.

Paxtons face brightened up as he smiled at Preston. “Thanks Cayden, you always know what to say.”

Preston smiled back and the two continued their journey out of the imagination forest.

They were walking towards the main mindspace when Preston froze and turned to look behind him. He could have sworn he heard a voice calling to him from the misty no man’s land that surrounded the forest.

“What’s wrong?” Paxton asked, having turned around to see why Preston had stopped.

“I thought I heard something.” Preston murmured, his eyes scanning the mist warily. Eventually he pushed that thought away and continued towards the main mindspace.

As the two entered the mindspace a teenage boy in an immaculate school uniform appeared in front of them looking exhausted.

“I can’t convince Tristan to do his work, he’s too busy staring into space and we don’t need another repeat of last week. I need Liam to help convince him.”

“Uh, about that…” Paxton said, trying to keep his voice level.

The uniformed trait looked from him to Preston and took in their worried expressions. “What? What is it? Where’s Liam?” he demanded.

“We can’t find him. Paxton looked everywhere in the main mindspace but…” Preston tried to explain but he was shoved aside by the suddenly frantic trait.

“Somethings happened to him. He would never leave the main mindspace.”

“Hugh, calm down.” Paxton tried to say but Hugh let out a small growl “You don’t get to tell me to calm down! Liam is missing and here you are having a lovely conversation with Cayden. Either help me look for him or stay out of my way!”

Hugh stormed off leaving Paxton speechless and Preston shaking his head.

“I…. I didn’t mean to…” Paxton said in a quiet voice and Preston sighed “Don’t blame yourself, he’s just concerned for the person he loves. You know how protective of him he is. Once we find Liam he’ll be fine.”

Paxton shrugged “I guess. We should probably keep looking. The sooner we find Liam the sooner we can stop Tristan getting hurt again.”

Preston frowned as he tried to think of where Liam could have disappeared to. “Hey Paxton, did Liam ever mention the secondary traits?” he asked and received a negative answer.

“Why do you ask?”

Preston started to walk back out of the main mind space. “What if he went to visit them? For all we know he could be friends with one of them.”

Paxton was jogging to keep up with Preston pace and as they walked into the imagination forest the air felt heavy.

“Somethings not right.” Preston whispered drawing his sword and looking around cautiously. “Stay close Pax, just in case.”

Pax grabbed a hold of Preston shirt, fear clear on his face as they walked deeper into the forest.

There wasn’t a hint of the creatures that usually frequented the forest floor and it seemed to be getting darker.

When they exited the imagination forest on the other side they let out small sighs of relief and continued towards a large grey door that lead to the area of the mind where the secondary traits lived.

They got to the door and Preston, who had put his sword back away, was about to open it when he heard something.

“Cayden! Hugh! Paxton! Help me!”

Paxtons eyes were wide as he also heard the familiar shout.

The two of them immediately sprinted towards the sound of the voice, not hesitating as they ran through the misty no man’s land.

They came to a stop as they heard Liam voice from the opposite direction than they were running and before they could head towards it his voice came from somewhere else as well.

Preston closed his eyes and focused on trying to clear the mist but as it slowly dissipated he felt his heart sink.

Liam was nowhere to be found which meant that they were being tricked.

Suddenly there was an earth shattering scream from the other side of the forest and he wasted no time in running towards it, Paxton not far behind.

He skidded to a stop as he set eyes on a horrific scene.

Hugh was the one screaming and the reason for that was Liam.

The ground was streaked with blood and pieces of what Preston assumed to be flesh were strewn everywhere as if Liam had been ripped apart by some sort of wild animal.

The only non mangled part of Liam was his face which wasn’t comforting at all because it probably meant the culprit wanted the body to be identifiable.

Hugh had fallen to his knees his face streaked with tears as he continued to scream, letting out all his horror and anger.

Paxton was vomiting and crying somewhere behind him but Preston couldn’t tear his eyes away from the gore, his mind frozen as he tried to register that the mess had once been a talking, breathing living person who he considered a friend.

*end of flashback*

A few silent tears tracked down Prestons face as he was swamped with grief for his old friend who had died in such a horrific and violent way.

Anger suddenly coarse through him and he scrubbed the moisture from his face aggressively.

He had locked way his memories for a reason and they were not going to ruin everything he’d accomplished by throwing him off at inconvenient moments.

He was Preston now. Not weak little Cayden with his silly attachments.

As he forced away all the feelings the memory had brought back he suddenly had an evil idea. It seemed that memory had been good for something.

What better way to send a message than with a mutilated body?

He let out a deranged laugh and got to his feet with a small wince. It seemed as if he’d be using his hunting knife for more than just torture this time.


	32. Bloodlust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, violence, gore, character death

Deceit pulled himself out of Logans mind and continued to pretend to be unconscious.

He’d woken up on the forest floor a little while ago and he could hear Preston muttering something under his breath nearby so he didn’t want to risk moving or even opening his eyes.

His head was pounding painfully from the kick and his shoulder and leg were no better. Even if he tried to escape he doubted he’d get very far.

Deceit had to stop himself flinching as Preston suddenly let out a deranged laugh and started shuffling closer.

He heard the metallic clink of a knife being pulled free from its sheath and counted to three before rolling to the side.

He ignored the ridiculous amount of pain he was in from that one movement because as he looked back he saw the knife stuck in the ground where he’d just been.

Deceits eyes widened as Preston tried to pull the knife out of the forest floor and braced himself as he tried to transport himself back to the secondary mind space.

As soon as he appeared he heard Luni and Unwins voices but couldn’t make out what they were saying because the pain was overwhelming.

He felt two sets of hands lift him off the floor and place him on what could have been a bed. He caught the eye of Luni and managed to say “Prestons back and trying to kill Thomas. Virgils battling himself for control.”

Luni shushed him and started examining the wounds while Unwin looked at Deceit with an unreadable expression.

“I can’t heal these, your best bet would be Logic. He’s the one with the healing ability after all.” Luni said shaking his head.

“Preston seems like someone I could get along with if he weren’t trying to kill Thomas.” Unwin commented.

Deceit let out a weak chuckle “Yeah, he’s a right asshole. You have that in common.”

Unwin opened his mouth to make some sort of retort but Luni suddenly burst out “Can you two stop arguing? Seriously, Jake could be on his deathbed and the last thing he could say will be some sort of insult.”

Deceit grinned “I wouldn’t have it any other way Luni, you know that.”

Luni rolled his eyes but froze suddenly, his eyes glazed over.

“There’s an asshole at the door.” Luni muttered and looked at Unwin.

Unwin frowned and the two of them seemed to be having a conversation with their eyes.

“ugh, fine but I’m going to spend the rest of my life on the sofa if I can help it after all this is over.” Unwin said as he walked off, pulling a sharp looking object out of his pocket.

“What’s going on?” Deceit asked, trying to sit up but Luni pushed him back down, non too gently.

“shut up and lay down! You’re injured, exhausted and have lost a lot of blood. You’re not invincible Jakey boy, I bet you’ve been using your abilities like they’re nothing.” Luni commanded.

Deceit sighed “I had to distract Preston somehow while the others helped Virgil so I kind of had to use my abilities.”

Luni was frowning “that doesn’t sound like you. I would have thought you’d leave them to do the distracting so you could help Virgil.”

“I did try to do that at first but Roman used his katana to emphasise his point and I had no wish to be on the receiving end. He actually almost stabbed me because I called Logan a bed-warmer.”

Luni giggled at that “So it’s not just Unwin who you piss off then? You’re good at making people want to kill you.”

Deceit rolled his eyes and suddenly there was an enormous crash from somewhere.

“What was that?” Deceit asked and Luni scowled in the direction of the crash.

“Someone who wants to kill you.”

Deceits eyes widened and he tried to sit up again but Luni wasn’t having any of it.  
“lay the fuck down or I’ll strap you down!” he growled.

Deceit gulped and stayed put.

There was the sound of shouting and grunts as two people seemed to be grappling with each other somewhere out of view.

“Is that all you’ve got?” came Unwins voice and the response was just a snarl.

After what seemed like forever the thump of a body and the clank of a knife hitting the floor signalled that someone had won.

The sound of someone struggling to breathe suddenly cut off and the only sound Deceit and Luni could hear was the pants of the other person.

Footsteps began to approach and Deceit felt his whole body start to tingle oddly. He looked at Luni and noticed him with his eyes shut, concentrating.

“Well well well, what do we have in here?” a voice said from the doorway and Deceits heart stopped for a second.

Preston stood in the doorway drenched in blood, a sadistic smirk on his lips.

Seeing Preston meant only one thing; Unwin was dead.

Deceit had no idea how to feel about that because he never really liked Unwin but knowing his last act had been to try and hold off Preston made his eyes tear up a bit. Seemed like even the embodiment of apathy and laziness was willing to actually work to stop Preston.

Luni stood glaring at Preston with his hands on his hips. “What we’ve got here is a sick little fucko who thinks he’s hot shit.”

Preston laughed. “Hmm, you’re quite the character. Shame we didn’t meet during different circumstances, the sex would have been phenomenal.”

Luni suddenly giggled “Really? Little old me huh? There’s still time, none of us are going anywhere.”

Deceit rolled his eyes, Luni really picked his moments to have his crazy fits.

Preston raised an eyebrow at the giggling trait. “What?”

Luni took a few steps forward and tilted his head to the side with an innocent smile “Don’t worry, I won’t bite. Or maybe I will, who knows?”

Preston was caught off guard by the strange traits behaviour. “I just killed your friend.” he said and was surprised at how the trait in front of him started laughing.

“Wow! That makes you a sick fucko who thinks he’s hot shit and knows how to turn a guy on!” Luni exclaimed.

Preston took a step forward, hoping to maybe intimidate the weird trait but found himself almost face to face with him.

“Mmm you smell like blood and sweat. I wonder if that’s what you taste like too.” Luni purred in a sultry voice.

Preston heard snickering and glanced over the odd traits shoulder to see Deceit laying on a bed trying to hold back laughter.

“What’s so funny?” he demanded angrily.

Deceit took a few breaths before saying “Luni is the embodiment of utter irrationality and craziness. There’s a reason we never piss him off”

Preston was confused until he felt Luni sink his teeth into his neck.

Preston let out a scream and struggled to push the crazy trait off of him, blood running down his neck from where a chunk of flesh had been removed.

Luni spat out the flesh with a deranged grin, blood trickling down his chin as his eyes glinted with hunger and his face took on a sinister gaunt appearance.

“Mmm, that was definitely quite the mouthful. I wonder what else you have.” Luni muttered in a low voice.

Preston had a hand clamped over his neck to try and stop the bleeding as he backed way from Luni, his eyes full of rage and pain.

“What’s up prissy Pressy boy? Don’t you want me anymore?” Luni taunted, his voice childish as he fluttered his eyelashes at Preston.

Preston suddenly grinned and a sword materialised in his hand. “Actually, I do, I want you cut up into tiny pieces so I can force feed them to the injured serpent over there.”

Luni didn’t even react as Preston swung the sword, he just stood there waiting.

The sword was a hair away from Luni’s skin when suddenly it disappeared.

Preston stared in shock while Luni cackled. “Aw, you should see your ickle face. Did mean Looney Luni take away your toy?”

Deceit felt the tingles from before start to grow so he felt like his whole body had pins and needles. He wasn’t sure what was happening.

Luni suddenly ran at Preston and the two began wrestling with each other. Luni was surprisingly strong and it was all Preston could do not to be overpowered by him.

“You’re in my domain now, bitch!” Luni growled and hooked his leg around Prestons sending them both to the floor.

Prestons neck was still bleeding and Luni wasted no time in digging his sharp nails into the part he bit, making Preston roar in pain.

Preston managed to move one of his hands up to Luni’s neck and squeezed.

Luni pulled back and sunk his teeth into Prestons arm, forcing him to let go.

Deceit wanted to get up and help but the odd sensation in his body suddenly began to grow and if he moved a muscle it felt like he was being stabbed by a million tiny needles.

Luni let out a yelp as Preston managed to kick him in the spot no guy likes to get kicked.

While Luni was distracted by the pain Preston conjured another weapon and lunged.

Time seemed to slow down as Deceit yelled for Luni to look out, and his body began to glow. The light became blinding and the last thing Deceit saw was Luni rolling out of the way of Preston with a sad smile on his face.

“bye Jakey.” a voice whispered in his head and then Deceit found himself laying in the middle of the main mindspace lounge.

Tears rolled down his face and he let out a scream of anger and sorrow as the full implications of what had happened finally hit him.

He’d distracted Preston but at what cost? Unwin was dead, Deceit was injured and couldn’t do much of anything anymore and it seemed as if Luni had used all his power to get him to safety while he fought Preston.

Deciet sobbed for ages, he may not have been particularly fond of Unwin or Luni but they’d sacrificed themselves to save him and to someone like him, who valued his own life above nearly everyone else’s, that was a huge deal.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luni rolled out of the way and smiled sadly as he managed to get Jake to safety. He pushed his voice into Jake’s mind and said goodbye, already knowing the chance of him making it out of this confrontation was next to none.

Preston was distracted by the bright light and disappearance of Jake so Luni used it to leap at him, a sword in his hands from where he’d vanished Prestons earlier.

Preston let out a cry of pain as the sword stabbed into his arm but he grit through it and shoved the blade in his hand towards the lunatic trait.

Luni hissed in pain as the blade gouged a deep cut into his cheek but otherwise didn’t react, other than pulling the sword free and swinging it towards Prestons legs.

As the sword hit one of his legs Preston let out a primal roar and drove the knife in his hands right into the crazed traits chest.

Luni giggled, blood bubbling at the side of his mouth. “I may not have been able to kill you but I at least weakened your bitch ass.”

Preston knocked the sword out of Luni’s hand and looked down at where a black ooze seemed to be seeping from his leg. He remembered it was the weird grey flaky leg and shuddered.

Luni still had the blade in his chest as he tried to swing his fists at Preston but was shoved away easily. As his back collided with the floor he smirked “I thought you didn’t want me like that because I’m a biter.”

Preston sneered down at the insane trait “How are you able to act like that when I’ve won? I’m going to finish you and then I’ll track down the others.”

Luni laughed, ignoring the fact his breathing was getting harder due to the blood filling his lungs. “I’m crazy! I’m the most irrational person ever so of course I’m not going to be all sad or angry.”

Preston was scowling now and reached down to pull his knife out, causing blood to pool rapidly around Luni.

“you’re look so bummed out. Are you not….. Satisfied with….. My death?” Luni taunted, his words coming out in splutters as he felt his body begin to get cold as all the blood that had made it warm spilled out of him.

Preston let out a snarl and plunged his knife back into Luni’s chest on anger.

Luni let out a quiet giggle and with his last breath whispered “You’re such a bitch.”

The fact that Luni was now dead didn’t satisfy Preston as much as he thought and he dug his hands into the wound on his chest and began pulling and tearing. Preston got lost in his anger and brutally pulled apart the insane traits body until it was almost unrecognisable.

He eventually stopped, panting heavily. He won that was all that mattered and now he could focus on the others.

He struggled to his feet, and leant against a wall, trying to ignore the injuries he’d sustained.

He felt something suddenly rush through him and he stared down at his hands as a weird feeling rippled under his skin.

He felt like something was writhing in his chest and, as he comprehended what exactly that feeling was, a nefarious smirk spread across his lips.

It looked as if his plans had been pushed forward.


	33. Who's Tristan?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: mentions of blood, violence, bullying, character death, suicide mention

Logan tried to think up a reason for why he needed to go to the memory library.

He wasn’t going to tell the others about Deceit talking to him because it would bring up why Deceit had spoken to him which was the information about Virgil.

He eventually said “While you guys stay here with Virgil I’ll go back into the mindspace and look through some of the memory books. Maybe they’ll have some useful information.”

Roman was too busy staring at Virgils unconscious form to say much but Patton immediately protested.

“You’re not going off on your own. What if Preston gets to you? I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Logan sighed “Deceit is distracting him and it probably won’t take long. I’m just going to skim through the memories.”

Patton crossed his arms “No. Absolutely not. I won’t allow you.”

Logans face hardened and the atmosphere turned icy as he spoke in a detached voice “You won’t allow me? You sound just like Him.”

Patton flinched at Logans biting remark and quickly tried to apologise but Logan had already left, leaving Patton gaping in horror.

“I… I didn’t mean it like that…” Patton whispered.

Thomas wrapped his arms around Patton and said “Don’t worry, he just needs time to think and he’ll see you didn’t mean it like that.”

Patton sighed “I hope you’re right.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Logan strode towards the memory library, a frown on his face as he tried to ignore what Patton had said. He knew he’d overreacted slightly and he shouldn’t have compared him to Preston but on the bright side it had provided him with a solid excuse for leaving.

He walked into the memory library and quickly walked over to a specific section. He had a vague idea of the time period he needed to look through considering Preston had cropped up as Thomas was about 13 so anything before that might contain useful information.

Logan grabbed one of the books off the shelf at random, flicking through it quickly, skimming for the name Tristan.

He found nothing and continued to flip through books, getting increasingly annoyed with the lack of information.

He was just flicking through the final book on the shelf when he found what he’d been looking for.

He read the passage and felt a chill go down his spine. The memory he’d just read was from when Thomas had been in a school assembly and the Principal had announced the tragic death of a boy named Tristan.

Logan didn’t get much information from that memory because Thomas had been daydreaming through most of the assembly and hadn’t paid enough attention to retain any useful information except that a boy called Tristan had died.

Logan sighed, if it was the same Tristan it still didn’t explain how Preston had managed to get into Thomas’s head. Surely if he was the creativity of this Tristan boy he would have perished along with him?

Logan put the book back and grabbed the one on the shelf below, skimming through it in hopes of finding more of a mention.

There was a sudden scream from nearby and Logan froze. It sounded like it was coming from the lounge so Logan stood up, placed the book he was midway through back on the shelf and slowly began walking towards the source of the noise.

Logan peered into the lounge and gasped in horror as he saw Deceit slumped against the wall sobbing and shaking, his clothes bloodstained and torn.

Logan quietly crept into the room and murmured “Deceit?”

Deceit didn’t seem to hear so Logan placed a hand on his shoulder, making him jump.

Deceit realised it was Logan and tried to calm himself down but he just couldn’t force himself to stop sobbing.

Logan seemed to understand this because he waited patiently and muttered “Take your time, I know what He’s like.”

“it’s not what he did to me….” Deceit managed to gasp out. “The…. The others…. He…..” Deceit couldn’t bring himself to finish that sentence and started shaking more.

Logan frowned and tried to understand what Deceit was trying to say. “What did he do?” he asked.

Deceit didn’t respond, he just sobbed harder so Logan decided to focus on healing his injuries instead.

Deceit managed to realise what Logan was doing but couldn’t calm himself down enough to protest. Logan healed the wound in his leg and started on the one on his shoulder just as the whole mindspace seemed to shake and the lights flickered.

“What the hell?” Logan said, looking around cautiously.

Deceit had finally managed to calm himself down enough to talk and said “I think that’s Virgil. He’s probably awake by now.”

Logan nodded and focused back on Deceits wounds, trying to heal them quicker so he could return to either the library or Thomas’s apartment.

“Don’t bother healing anything else.” Deceit said once Logan had healed his shoulder. “There’s no point in both of us exhausting ourselves.”

Logan frowned and tried to insist but Deceit started to get to his feet and take a few shaky steps away from him.

“Where are you going?” Logan asked, also getting to his feet.

“I don’t have enough power left to go see Virgil so I’m going to help you search in the memory library for information.” Deceit said, his voice emotionless as he pushed away all the thoughts of what had happened to Unwin and Luni.

Before Logan could respond Deceit had already set off so he was forced to follow him to the library where Deceit immediately gravitated towards a certain shelf.

“Why are you looking through that one? Preston appeared when Thomas was 13.” Logan commented, confusion clear on his face.

Deceit sighed “I know that but back then I didn’t really understand the layout of the shelves so once I’d pulled a book or two out, I had no idea where they were supposed to go and I just put them back anywhere. In fact that’s probably why I’m the only one who still remembers Tristan.”

Logan was not impressed to hear Deceit had messed with the memories and put them back in a random order but when a book was passed to him he forgot all about it, his eyes glued to the book.

The book contained Thomas’s first encounter with a boy named Tristan Mallory, who had been exceedingly shy and had the constant appearance of a deer in the headlights.

Logans eyes flicked across the page rapidly as he took in everything and he recognised the memory in the book.

*flashback*

Thomas was sitting at his desk doodling in the margin of his book and only looked up when someone accidentally bumped into his desk causing him to draw a line through his drawing.

The person who’d bumped into his desk was Tristan Mallory, a boy who never spoke so everyone had classed him as a mute. He noticed the look of terror on the silent boys face and was about to ask what was wrong when a familiar voice came from the doorway of the classroom.

“aw, did the ickle mouse try and find a nice safe hole to hide in?” mocked Huxley Striker, a boy no one wanted to get on the wrong side of.

Thomas gulped and turned back to look at his doodles, not wanting to be Huxleys next target. He’d managed to avoid being noticed so far but he knew that wouldn’t always be the case.

Tristan had hidden in the back of the class, trying desperately to blend in with the wall but Huxley could still see him.

Thomas couldn’t help but sneak a glance at where Huxley and Tristan stood, he wanted to stay out of Huxleys way but he didn’t want to stand by and watch as he hurt someone.

“Hey freak, running away from me was a big mistake.” Huxley said and grabbed Tristan by the shirt. “Do I have to give you another reminder of why you should listen to your superiors?”

Tristan clenched his eyes shut, his entire body shaking and Thomas was having a war with himself. He wanted to go get the teacher or just someone to help but he knew if he did he could become Huxleys next target.

Just as Huxley swung his fist and Thomas started to stand up, the teacher walked in and shouted “Mr Striker! Come with me, this will be the third time this week I’ve had to tell you about leaving Mr Mallory alone, I’m taking you to the principals office.”

Thomas let out a small sigh of relief as Huxley stomped out of the room and he looked back at Tristan who had yet to move from the corner.

He eventually gave in to his thoughts and approached the still shaking boy.

“Tristan, right?” Thomas asked, taking note of the way Tristan flinched. “My name’s Thomas. I saw what happened and if the teacher hadn’t come in I would have done something to help.”

Tristan opened his eyes and Thomas noticed they seemed to be a few shades darker than his own. “D…. Don’t worry a… About me. I…. I can handle it.” Tristan stuttered out in barely a whisper.

“Wow, you can talk? I mean, I heard people say you were mute and so I thought they were right because you never seem to say anything and oh no I’m rambling, sorry.” Thomas forced himself to stop talking and put a hand over his face, therefore missing the smallest of smiles on Tristans face.

“Like I said, don’t worry about it. I can handle myself.” Tristan replied, still barely above a whisper.

Thomas was going to say something else but suddenly the teacher was back.

“Mr Mallory, your father is waiting for you in the reception, he seemed to be in a hurry so let’s not keep him waiting.”

Thomas walked back over to his desk as Tristan timidly walked after the teacher.

*end of flashback*

Logans hand flew up to his mouth as he realised something. He looked over at Deceit who had a grim expression on his face.

“Tristan looked almost exactly like Preston but he didn’t have the same attitude, in fact he was acting more like me… Oh no.”

Deceit sighed “You picked up on that too? Yeah, I have my theories about Tristan and none of them are happy.”

Logans brain started to analyse all the information he had. “I read in a different book that a boy named Tristan died around about the same time Preston appeared in Thomas’s mind. If it’s the same boy then that doesn’t explain how Preston survived.”

Deceit frowned “I don’t exactly understand that part either but I do have a bit more information on Tristans death. As you know I can keep things from Thomas when he doesn’t want to know about them and one of those things was Tristans death. Thomas didn’t want to know about it because I think he felt guilty. You probably noticed how he tended to try and keep out of the way of bullies and such like? Yeah, unfortunately Tristan wasn’t so lucky and Thomas was terrified of being picked on if he intervened so he tried to pretend it wasn’t happening. He was so ashamed of himself and the guilt was eating away at him so I blocked out as much as I could get away with.”

Logan shuddered as he asked “How did Tristan die?”

“It was declared a ‘tragic accident’ but I think he committed suicide. The story was he walked out into the road and didn’t notice the pickup truck which hit him at quite a high speed. He then died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. I don’t think he walked out into the road by accident though, I think he knew what he was doing.”

“How do you know all this?” Logan asked.

“Most of it was stuff Thomas overheard from other people but, like I said, he wanted to pretend nothing had happened because he felt like he should have done something or helped Tristan in some way.” Deceit muttered.

The two sat in silence for a bit until the mindspace suddenly shook again, this time more violently and the lights in the library smashed, plunging the room into darkness as loud familiar cackle echoed around the mindspace.


	34. Merge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: violence, vomiting

Virgils eye lids slowly opened and he frowned as he took in his surroundings.

He wasn’t in Thomas’s apartment or in the mindspace, he was in a dark grey void. He heard shuffling behind him and spun around, his jaw dropping as he took in the being in front of him.

The being in front of him was an exact copy of him except the eyes, which were pitch black, and the way he seemed to shimmer slightly.

“Well this is definitely an experience.” The copy said in a deep echoey voice which he recognised as the one who’d spoken to him.

“It’s you!” Virgil exclaimed, pointing a finger at the being only to let out a yelp of alarm as he noticed his hand was completely grey and flaky.

“Yep and that’s one hell of a skin disease.” The copy said looking Virgil up and down.

Virgil shuddered “It’s not a skin disease. I think it’s a side effect of the antidepressants.”

The copy laughed “Oh yeah, those were fun. If it weren’t for them I wouldn’t have been able to take control of you so easily. I must thank you for making Thomas take those, they helped a great deal.”

“Shut up! I get it! I fucked up! Is that what you want to hear? Will that be enough to make you leave me alone?” Virgil shouted, fighting back tears.

The copy tilted it’s head and took a few steps closer. “I’m a part of you Virgil. We are the same person so it’s impossible for me to leave you alone. Especially when we’re in our own head.”

Virgil scowled “What are you on about?”

“We’re in our own head right now. That’s what this grey void is. It used to be much lighter but it’s been steadily growing darker since Preston showed up and the antidepressants definitely didn’t help matters.” The copy said, gesturing around at the surroundings.

Virgil looked around again, taking in more detail than he had before. “Why am I in my own head? And what the hell is with all of those?”

The copy sighed. “You’re here because we need to talk and they are the reason we need to talk. Obviously my plans and intentions aren’t the same as yours but we need to compromise if we’re to avoid them becoming a bigger problem.”

Virgil managed to pull his eyes away from the large cracks he’d spotted and sent a suspicious look at his doppelganger. “There’s no way I’m hurting any of the others. I won’t let you.”

The copy shook it’s head “I’m not asking you to, I’m saying we should figure out something we both want and work towards that before our infighting ends up causing some serious damage.”

Both their eyes darted to the cracks and Virgil reluctantly said “Fine but I’m not OK with any of this.”

The copy shrugged “me neither. Now what’s something you want to do?”

Virgil furrowed his brow in thought “I suppose I want to apologise to everyone for causing so much trouble. I also really need to go back and visit Luni and Unwin, I forgot they existed until however many hours ago so they probably think I didn’t want anything to do with them anymore. Then of course you’ve got that bastard Preston.”

The copy looked annoyed at the first few things but perked up at the mention of Preston.

“Well there’s no chance of me doing any of the first two, if I see any of your ‘friends’ I’ll probably blast them through a wall but Preston sounds like an option. I’m sure you’d love to see him get thrown across the room like a ragdoll.”

Virgil couldn’t help the smirk that spread across his lips at the thought of Preston sailing through the air with a high pitched scream.

The copy chuckled and reached a hand out in front of it “See? All you have to do is grab my hand and we’ll merge together the way we should already be if you hadn’t been so scared all those years ago.”

Virgil looked at the hand cautiously “What happens if we merge? How do I know I’m not just going to turn into an aggressive monster and attack my friends?”

The copy just grinned “You don’t but I think if you focus really hard on how much you want to destroy Preston then when we merge you’ll remember that as your main goal.”

Virgil looked from the copy’s hand to the cracks in the floor and sighed. “Fine. I’m probably going to regret this.”

Virgil grabbed hold of the copy’s hand and they both let out matching shrieks as they felt pain radiate through them.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roman had been sitting on the floor next to Virgil for a while. He was trying his best to remain calm and on the outside he was but on the inside he felt like he was seconds from breaking down.

Suddenly Virgil let out a small groan and his eye lids twitched slightly, causing Romans heart to start pounding in anticipation, unsure if it would be Virgil in control or not.

Patton and Thomas stopped the conversation they were having as Roman whispered “Virgil?”

The three of them waited with baited breath as Virgil pushed himself into a sitting position and looked around with slightly unfocused eyes.

“Ugh, my head.” Virgil muttered clutching his head which was throbbing painfully. His vision was a little blurry and he could just about make out three figures watching him.

“Virgil? Can you hear us?” one of the figures asked and Virgil blinked a couple times to get rid of the blurriness.

“I can hear you.” he muttered and his eyes locked onto a very familiar face which caused a whole plethora of different thoughts and feelings.

“Oh god, I think I’m gonna be sick.” he mumbled and vomited violently.

“I… I’m sorry Virgil. I couldn’t think what else to do… You weren’t in control and…. I’m really sorry.” A voice Virgil recognised as Thomas’s said and he shot him a confused look.

“Why are you apologising?”

Thomas struggled to find words for a second before saying “I used that dirty tactic on you. I forced you to….”

Virgil held up a hand to silence him as he said “Don’t apologise for that. I ended up having a long overdue conversation with… Myself I guess. Things are still a bit fuzzy and I’m still trying to process all the thoughts and feelings from the merge.”

Thomas barely heard a word of this because he was too busy focusing on Virgils grey flaky hand.

Virgil noticed and let out an angry growl “Stop staring!”

The energy suddenly reappeared except it seemed more focused and controlled than the wild smoke from before.

Thomas flinched backwards and the energy disappeared again as if it had never been around.

Virgil took a few shuddering breaths before mumbling “Sorry, I just…. I’m trying to readjust. This merge thing is messy.”

Roman was the first to recover from Virgils outburst. “What do you mean when you say merge?”

Virgil sighed “the other me, or more accurately, the part of me that I was terrified of, and I came to a sort of agreement and merged into one. Before you say anything it’s the way I’m supposed to be but I was terrified of my energy so I separated myself from it and it became a huge issue.”

Patton had a look of understanding on his face as he said “That’s what your nightmares were about when you became a main trait. You were terrified of how your energy would effect Thomas and you didn’t have the secondary traits around to comfort you.”

Virgil nodded before suddenly something in his brain clicked into place and his expression turned stormy “You’re the reason I forgot my friends. I have my memories back now and I remember everything but I spent years dealing with everything on my own. No wonder when Jacob started whispering things to me I started to believe him. He was the reason I broke so easily for Preston. He was jealous that I’d become a main trait and probably pissed off because he thought I was pretending not to know him. He used to come into my room every night and tell me how much you all hated me and how I should be down graded to a secondary trait again. At the time I didn’t even know who he was but I remember now and I can see all his comments for what they really were. A last ditch attempt to get his friend back. But because of you and your fucking meddling I ended up becoming a weak feeble little target for Preston!”

Virgil was on his feet now, his energy making the room go dark as he glared at Patton who had backed up until his back hit the wall, his face full of regret and fear.

Roman was staring from Virgil to Patton with a conflicted expression. He agreed with Virgil and sympathised with his anger but he didn’t want Patton getting hurt by Virgil.

Thomas was sitting on the stairs clutching his head with a pained grimace on his face as Virgils energy began to effect him. He could just about acknowledge what was going on but the sudden pounding migraine he had made it so he couldn’t intervene.

“Virgil, I’m so sorry.” Patton whispered as Virgil stalked towards him like a predator who’d cornered his prey.

“Sorry isn’t good enough!” Virgil snarled and he lunged for Patton.


	35. It Wasn't My Fault

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, violence, character death, gore, manipulation

Logan froze at the sound of the familiar cackle and murmured “We need to get back to the others.”

Deceit sighed. “They’re all with Thomas, I don’t have enough energy to materialise in front of him just yet. You go, tell them what we’ve figured out and I’ll join you as soon as I’m able to.”

“I’m not leaving you with Him again! Look at what state you were in when I found you.” Logan whisper yelled.

“You’re one to talk. Look at all the things he’s done to you! Out of the two of us you’re the one who needs to get away from him the most.” Deceit hissed back. “fucking go, if it comes to it I’ll just turn invisible for as long as I can and avoid him.”

Logan scowled. “I’m going to go tell the others everything and then we will all come back to find you.”

Deceit sighed again “Fine, whatever.”

With that Logan disappeared and Deceit was left to his own thoughts.

He could hear footsteps echoing down the corridor outside and coming to a stop outside the doors so he hid behind one of the large shelves and took a few breaths.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Preston limped down the corridors with a manic grin on his face. He could practically smell where Deceit was and if he hadn’t gotten injured he would have just teleported directly to him but of course that lunatic trait had to get a few blows in.

Preston scowled at that but his grin immediately came back as he remembered the large power boost he received. It seemed the insane trait had quite a lot of energy which he’d been able to absorb after killing him.

The trait who’d tried to stop him gaining access to the room had put up a bit of a fight but he made the mistake of not dodging quick enough so it had been easy for Preston to lodge his knife in his throat.

Preston came to a stop outside a familiar set of double doors and closed his eyes as he remembered the way the blood had gushed out, drenching him while the trait had fallen to the floor struggling to take breaths.

He hadn’t gained any kind of noticeable power from him but the kill had been satisfying enough.

Preston pushed open the double doors and limped inside, his eyes sweeping across the dark room. He knew Deceit was in here somewhere and with the injuries he’d sustained Preston was confident Deceit couldn’t escape.

He walked between the first few shelves and called out “Deceit? I know you’re in here.”

His tone was mocking and sounded similar to how a child would speak while playing hide and seek.

He stepped forward a couple steps and called out again “If you come out now, I’ll make your death nice and quick.”

He waited, smirking because he knew exactly what to say next to get Deceit to reveal himself. “If you don’t come out I’ll just have to long it out like I did with that crazy trait. Luni I think his name was? Ah yes he definitely died in agony.”

He heard a sharp intake of breath from several shelves away and grinned. “You should have seen it. He was laying there in a pool of his own blood with my knife sticking out of his chest and I could practically hear his lungs flooding with his own blood as he struggled to breathe.”

He limped closer to where he’d heard Deceit and heard quiet footsteps which signalled he’d moved.

Deceit seemed to care for the traits which was definitely a contradiction to what he’d told Preston but then again he was Deceit so Preston wasn’t surprised he’d obviously lied. “By far the best part was after he let out his last breath and I tore him apart, quite literally too. You probably wouldn’t even recognise him anymore.”

There was a noise from further in the library that was like a mixture between a sob and a growl. Preston walked in the direction it came from but froze as he heard Deceit suddenly speak up.

“I wonder if Tristan would be able to recognise you anymore? Him and all the other traits who used to know you.”

Preston clenched his hands into fists and growled “Shut up or I’ll rip you apart.”

“Is that how you reacted to the other traits? Is that what happened to poor Tristan?”

Preston let out a snarl “Don’t talk about things you don’t understand! It wasn’t my fault!”

Deceit called out “So who’s fault was it? Why did he walk in front of that pickup truck?”

Preston could feel old memories swirling in the back of his mind and clutched either side of his head, trying to force them away. “I’m going to rip that forked tongue out of your mouth when I find you!” he shouted

“Oh, sorry did I hit a nerve? Just like Tristan was hit by that truck.” Deceit taunted.

Preston had to lean against one of the shelves as his vision blurred and memories began racing through his mind. “It wasn’t my fault!” he growled, loudly before whispering to himself “I tried everything I could but he just stopped listening to me.”

“You were his creativity, how wasn’t it your fault?” Deceit shouted and Preston let out a cry of frustration.

“It wasn’t my fault! I tried everything I could! It was all Hugh’s fault! Love made him weak! It made all of us weak!”

Deceit, who’d been slowly leading Preston towards the back of the library, was caught off guard at that little confession. He’d only really started taunting Preston because he didn’t want to listen to what he’d done to Luni.

“Love makes people strong.” Deceit commented, hoping he could get Preston to elaborate and he wasn’t disappointed.

“If it wasn’t for love Tristan would still be alive! If it wasn’t for love Hugh wouldn’t have given up so fucking easily! If it wasn’t for love… I would still be Cayden.” Preston shouted his points but fell quiet at the last point his voice wavering slightly as he was overwhelmed with all his old memories.

Deceits eyes widened and he crept further away so he could say “What happened to Cayden to make him turn into Preston?”

Prestons eyes were itching as a particular memory tried to force its way to the forefront of his mind but he closed his eyes and took a few breaths, pushing it away.

His face hardened and he yelled “It doesn’t matter! Cayden was weak and died a long time ago! I’m Preston and I’m going to rip you apart!”

He limped quickly through the rows of shelves and Deceit had to almost run to get away.

As Deceit managed to make it to the double doors after circling around he glanced back and saw Preston glaring at him. He took a deep breath and yelled “You’ll have to catch me first limpy.”

He dashed out of the library and shut the doors, just dodging a knife which had been thrown at him. He concentrated as hard as he could and suddenly the doors became a solid wall.

Deceit knew he was going to exhaust himself from using his sealing off ability but he didn’t really have any other choice.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Preston let out a snarl and pounded his fists on the wall where the doors had been.

He had no idea how Deceit had recovered from his injuries so fast because he was certain Deceit was in no fit state to escape.

Preston froze as he thought of something. It was possible that Logan had healed Deceit but that didn’t really make much sense. As far as he knew Deceit and the main traits didn’t get along.

He winced as he felt his leg throb painfully and couldn’t help but wish he had Logans healing ability. It would definitely come in handy for situations like this.

He grinned as he remembered how useful it had been for prolonging torture. It had been amazing to see all the marks and wounds disappear just so he could create them again.

Preston grin turned into a frown as he remembered that he’d had to make sure Logan had enough energy to heal stuff before he actually did anything. That was something that pissed him off a lot.

Preston tilted his head as he realised something. Deceit had created the wall and from what he understood that had to be pretty exhausting to keep up. If Preston just waited then eventually Deceit would be forced to drop the wall and he would be too tired to fight back.

He huffed in annoyance, patience wasn’t something he was good at but he didn’t think it would be very long and then he’d be able to finish the lying trait once and for all.


	36. I'm Sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Violence, panic attacks

As Virgils hands closed around Pattons throat Roman reacted as quickly as he could and grabbed Virgil from behind, wrapping his arms around him tightly as he pulled him away from Patton.

Virgil was snarling and thrashing around, his hands still outstretched trying to grab at Patton.

“It’s all your fucking fault!” Virgil shouted and tendril of black energy began to wrap around Patton, squeezing him tightly like a boa constrictor.

Roman dragged Virgil further away and kept chanting “Virgil, please stop. You’re better than this.”

Logan suddenly appeared and looked around in horror.

He quickly ran over to Patton and tried to free him of the black tendril which had tightened to the point where Patton was trying not to cry in pain.

Logan turned to face Virgil and took a deep breath before focusing on the memory of when he found Deceit crying in the mindspace. He sent this memory into Virgils mind which immediately resulted in the black tendril disappearing .

Patton slid down the wall gasping for breath and staring at Virgil with tears running down his face

“W…. What? Jacob?” Virgil asked, his voice shaky and eyes wide.

Logan sighed “I healed him as best I could but he’s too exhausted to be able to come out here just yet.”

“So you left him with Preston?” Virgil accused, his voice quivering with anger and worry.

“I didn’t have a choice! He told me to leave because we discovered something about Preston and where he came from!” Logan exclaimed, not wanting to be on the receiving end of Virgils anger.

Roman tightened his hold on Virgil and murmured in his ear “Everything is OK, take deep breaths.”

Virgil half wanted to blast Roman away from him but he took a few deep breaths like he’d been told and managed to calm his raging emotions slightly.

“What did you find out?” Patton asked, his face still streaked with tears.

“Preston isn’t Depression, he actually used to be the creative trait of a boy Thomas used to know from school.” Logan said, trying to figure out a way to tell them everything in a quicker fashion so they could go back to help Deceit.

“What? How the hell is he the creative trait of someone? He’s vile and sadistic and just… The complete opposite of everything a person’s creativity is supposed to be!” Roman exclaimed, obviously taking personal offence that Logan would say someone like Preston was anyway similar to him.

Logan sighed again “I know that Roman, probably better than anyone here, but it’s true.”

Roman winced at Logan reminding him of all the suffering he’d gone through.

Thomas, who’d been sitting on the stairs clutching his head in agony, suddenly spoke up in a small voice. “How did someone else’s trait end up in my head?”

Logan suddenly had an idea. “All of you hold hands.”

Virgil glared at him while the others had confused expressions.

“just do it! I’m going to try and send all the information I have into your minds so I don’t have to explain everything.” Logan explained.

Roman grabbed Virgils hand, making the two of them blush, while Patton grabbed Romans other hand.

Logan focused intently on each of the memories he was trying to share and once he’d done his legs felt like jelly.

Patton was the first to recover from the sudden influx of memories and his eyes glistened with unshed tears. “How did someone so cruel come from someone so sad?”

“I don’t know.” Logan muttered with a frown.

Roman and Virgil both recovered at the same time and started clamouring loudly about how Preston couldn’t have come from Tristan due to the opposing behaviours. Their loud voices mixed together meaning all anyone could hear was babble.

Logan groaned in frustration and shouted “Just shut up! Yes Preston is Tristans creativity, no I don’t know how or why he’s here and I also have no idea if he was the same back then as he is now.”

The room fell silent for a second before a gasp of horror came from Thomas.

He clutched his head, eyes full of tears as he remembered everything, the day he first met Tristan, the constant bullying Tristan went through and how Thomas had been too scared to help or intervene.

“No, no. What did I do? I should have helped him. I could have helped him! Why was I such a coward!” Thomas spluttered, shouting the word coward and grabbing handfuls of his hair in his fists.

All the traits approached Thomas, attempting to calm him but nothing seemed to work.

“He was so alone! I knew what was happening, I could see how he was being treated yet I did nothing! I stood by and let it happen! He…. He….. He died because of me.” Thomas burst into tears at the end, hunching over as guilt and shame washed over him.

“It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t bully him or make him feel like he needed to end it. Don’t blame yourself.” Logan said, trying his best to snap Thomas out of it.

Patton was rubbing Thomas’s back and started whispering “You’re not responsible for his choice or the choices of the people who hurt him. You did what you thought was right at the moment and…..” Patton suddenly cut off his eyes widening and his face going blank.

“Patton?” Roman and Logan asked at the same time, Virgil watching with a frown.

“we could have done something but we stood there and just let it happen. Any one of us could have influenced Thomas to intervene but we didn’t. By standing by and letting them hurt Tristan we are just as bad as the bullies.” Patton said in a downcast voice.

“What? No. That’s incorrect!” Logan exclaimed as Thomas started sinking back into his shameful state. They’d been ever so slightly calming him down.

“Patton? What was that?” Roman asked, worried about how blank Pattons face was.

“It’s the truth. If you see someone else being verbally or physically attacked you don’t just walk away, you’re supposed to help in any way you can. Thomas should have told the teachers or stepped in to defend Tristan from Huxley. That would have been the moral thing to do.” Patton said in an emotionless voice.

Roman and Logan were staring at Patton with their mouth open in shock and horror. Neither of them could think of anything to combat what he’d said which just made everything worse.

Virgil was starting to feel the impact of Thomas’s internal panic over being a bad person and his energy was spreading across the floor while he struggled to push away the anxious regretful feelings Thomas was projecting.

Roman immediately noticed Virgils struggle and tried to grab him in a calming hug but both Virgil and Thomas burst out. “Don’t touch me! It’s all my fault!”

Roman backed away in shock, looking from Thomas to Virgil who were both covering their faces and shaking.

Logan had approached Patton and was trying to snap him out of his odd emotionless state. “Patton? You’re scaring me now. Please snap out of it or I’ll never let you have cookies ever again” Logan murmured in a soft voice, trying everything he could think of.

Patton turned his blank stare to Logan and mumbled “I don’t even want cookies, they’re pointless when you think of all the other situations where Thomas could have helped someone but didn’t. I’ve failed him. I’m his morality and I’ve just lead him down multiple wrong paths. I should have made him intervene but I didn’t. I’m useless.”

Logan felt his eyes tearing up at the utter defeat in Pattons voice and was about to engulf him in a hug when the whole room suddenly went dark.

“He’s right. He’s useless. He messed up. Everything that’s happened is his fault. Preston wouldn’t have managed to get to Logan if Patton had just paid more attention to him and made him feel included. Preston might not have even appeared in the first place if Patton had made Thomas intervene. Patton decided to take the easy way out and remove my memories because he couldn’t deal with my problems! Everything is his fault! Preston is his fault!” boomed Virgil, his energy spreading out along the ground as his eyes glinted viciously at Patton.

The energy was seeping into the walls of the room and Roman and Logan felt like their chests were tightening with the pressure.

Patton remained silent, his dull eyes locked with Virgils as he spoke in a dull, dead sounding voice. “Yes. Everything is my fault. I’m sorry.”


	37. Exhaustion Can Have Dire Consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: violence, Mentions of blood, torture

Virgils energy lashed out sending Patton flying into the wall and knocking the other two traits onto the floor.

Roman immediately jumped back up and tackled Virgil to the floor, ignoring the way the energy crashed into him painfully.

Logan crawled over to Patton in a state of blind panic. He’d seen Patton hit his head on the wall and sure enough there was a thin stream of blood trickling down the side of his head. Logan closed his eyes and tried to focus on healing Patton, his concern making it more difficult to concentrate.

“Get off of me!” Virgil shrieked, struggling to extract himself from Roman who was gritting his teeth in pain from where both the energy and Virgil were lashing out at him.

“You need to calm down! It’s not Pattons fault and even if it was you shouldn’t attack him!” Roman shouted, wincing as Virgils energy whipped across his face.

Patton had an emotionless expression on his face, barely noticing the head injury Logan was attempting to heal.

His eyes were locked onto where Virgil and Roman were wrestling on the floor. He felt he deserved whatever Virgil did to him because everything was his fault. There were so many instances where he could have done something which would have prevented all the disasters that had happened.

Patton switched his gaze over to Logan. He’d suffered so much and so needlessly. Everything Preston had done to him was all Pattons fault.

Maybe if he’d helped Thomas intervene with Tristan then things would have been different or maybe if he’d just made more of an effort with Logan he could have prevented Preston getting to him.

Patton closed his eyes as he thought about what Virgil had said. He’d removed those memories and convinced himself it was the only way but in reality he’d been lying to himself. He knew removing the memories would be a bad idea but it had been the easiest way to stop Virgils breakdowns.

Virgils breakdowns had effected Thomas so badly in the first two weeks that his emotions instantly shifted to the negative side which would overwhelm Patton. Patton wasn’t used to so many negative emotions and it took a lot out of him to try and battle through the bad moods.

That was mostly why he removed the memories. It was the easy way out. He didn’t want to go through the long process of fighting the anger, fear and sadness. He was a coward and a hypocrite.

As Pattons thoughts reached this conclusion Thomas let out a whimper and slumped against the banister, his eyes closed as he tried to control his thoughts.

Virgils energy suddenly stilled as he had a thought. “We need to go help Jacob!” he gasped out, ceasing his struggling and fixing Roman with a worried expression.

Roman frowned in confusion at Virgils sudden change in attitude “What?”

Virgil shot a look at Logan who had inhaled sharply and repeated himself. “We need to go help Jacob! He’s all alone with Preston.”

Roman stood up, letting go of Virgil but making sure he was close enough to grab him if he tried to attack Patton again.

“We’ve already spent long enough arguing, we need to get back immediately.” Logan said, equally as worried.

Logan pushed himself to his feet and reached a hand out to help Patton up. Patton looked at his hand and slowly accepted it.

“Let’s go help him then, maybe I can make up for all the things that I’ve caused to happen.” Patton murmured, his eyes on the floor avoiding the other traits.

Roman and Logan tried to come up with something to say but Virgil exclaimed “Let’s go already!” and sunk down, forcing them to follow.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Preston could sense Deceit tiring because the wall was starting to make grating and creaking sounds. He smiled and pressed a hand against the wall, pushing slightly and laughing as he felt the wall start to give.

After a few more seconds the doors reappeared and Preston threw them open. He looked up and down the corridor with a grin and pulled out his phone. He dialled Deceits number and followed the sound of the ringtone.

“That was quite the little trick, shame you’re too weak to keep it up.” Preston taunted loudly as he stalked through the lounge and down a familiar corridor.

He let out a chuckle as he recognised the room Deceit had tried to hide himself in. “it seems fitting that you should choose this room to hide in, considering it’s where I was reformed in the first place.”

He blasted the door open and entered the emotion room with a smirk as he saw Deceit huddled in the corner frantically trying to turn his phone off, his eyelids drooping with exhaustion.

“Get….. Away…” Deceit panted as even speaking was too much for him.

Preston laughed while hanging up and leant against one of the walls, causing it to darken rapidly. “Aw, has the little snake run out of energy? What a shame, I was looking forward to a good fight but I guess I can settle for an easy kill.”

“Fuck……. You….” Deceit managed to growl out before slumping over, passed out from fatigue.

Preston cackled and approached Deceit, blade in hand. He tilted his head thoughtfully as he tried to work out what he wanted to do first.

He was going to savour this because he hadn’t really had much time for anything too elaborate before. Plus Deceit had been a huge annoyance throughout his time in Thomas’s mind.

He knelt down and hovered the blade over Deceits face, lightly touching the tip to his skin and causing tiny cuts as he tried to figure out what he was going to do.

Preston began digging the blade into Deceits cheek, cutting a jagged line from his cheekbone down to his chin. Blood gushed out and Preston repeated this several times until he was sure the cut was deep enough.

He suddenly smirked as he got a brainwave and raised the knife over Deceits normal eye before stabbing it down violently.

Preston let out a sigh of satisfaction, pulling the blade out with a deranged grin as blood surged out of Deceits eye socket and the deep gash on his face until a large pool formed on the floor.

He inhaled deeply, the familiar tang of blood making him giggle slightly. He was about to plunge the blade into Deceits other eye when the door burst open and he felt himself get thrown across the room.

His knife flew out of his hand and he hit the wall with a groan of pain, glaring over at the people standing in the doorway.

Virgil rushed in, his expression full of rage as he glared back at Preston. Logan and Roman quickly ran over to Deceit and carried him out of the room, shuddering at the sight of Deceits bloody eye.

Preston got back to his feet, wincing as he jolted his injuries.

“Why must you always ruin my fun? I was just getting started.” Preston said and started edging closer to where his knife had landed.

“You will not touch him again!” Virgil growled, his eyes blazing with anger but keeping his energy in, well aware of being in the emotions room and not willing to cause anymore damage to Thomas.

Preston laughed as he realised Virgils predicament. “You say that but we both know you can’t do anything. You can’t stop me from doing…. This!” Preston snatched up his knife and jammed it straight into the wall.

The whole mindspace shook and a scream of agony rang out through the corridors as a large ugly crack began stretching up the wall.

Virgils face was one of horror as he registered what Preston had done but before he could do anything Preston disappeared.

Virgil quickly rushed out of the room and found Patton in the corridor slumped on the floor gasping for breath. Although Virgil was pissed at Patton he didn’t want him dead anymore so he crouched down and tried to comfort him.

“What happened?” Roman asked, his voice full of fear as he came round the corner.

“Preston stabbed his knife through the wall in the emotions room and then disappeared! Pattons gone into shock and I have no idea what effect it might have had on Thomas but I’m pretty sure that scream wasn’t Patton.” Virgil blurted out his hands shaking as he tried to get Pattons attention.

“Logans busy healing Deceit in the lounge but I can go check on Thomas while you try and snap Patton out of it.” Roman said, and when Virgil nodded he quickly left, hoping with all his heart that Thomas was OK.


	38. Not This Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, violence, manipulation

Logan ignored the grotesque sight of Deceits ruined eye and held his hands over his face, trying to heal it enough to at least stop the bleeding.

He wasn’t capable of fixing the eye and the deep gash would definitely become a scar but there was nothing Logan could do to prevent that. He was already starting to feel slightly tired from using his healing ability multiple times in one day and projecting memories into people’s minds.

He had a small headache by the time he’d finished but Deceit had stopped bleeding so it was worth it. He started cleaning up as much of the blood he could.

He leant on the arm of the couch where Deceit had been put and closed his eyes with a small sigh. He knew he shouldn’t have left him alone with Preston but he was glad that they’d managed to get to him before anything worse could happen.

He didn’t even want to imagine what Preston would have managed to do if they’d been any later.

Logan opened his eyes as he heard someone walk into the room. He turned around and was instantly met with the sight of someone’s fist.

Logan fell backwards off the couch and looked at the person responsible with watering eyes.

Preston smirked down at Logan and let out a laugh as he noticed Deceit. “You sure work quickly Logan, shame about the eye though.”

Logan swallowed nervously and got to his feet, his eyes locked onto Preston warily. “Y….you should l…leave while you’ve got the chance.” he got out with as little stuttering as he could manage.

Preston seemed amused by Logans words “You say that as if I should be scared of you but we both know you’re the only one scared here. You’re terrified of me and the things I could do to you. The things I’ve already done to you.”

Logan shuddered trying to ignore Preston words and stepped back as Preston reached out a hand to caress his cheek.

“Aw, don’t be like that. You wouldn’t want tuerto here to lose his other eye now would you?” Preston said with a grin.

Logan gulped and screwed his eyes up as Preston reached out again and flinched at the contact but didn’t pull away this time.

He felt sick from fear but it wasn’t like it used to be. He was more fearful of what would happen to Deceit than himself.

“You should have just let him bleed out, he’s not really on anyone’s side but his own. He is Deceit after all. He’s an expert liar.” Preston said slyly.

Logans eyes opened in surprise at Prestons words. If he’d told him that a week or so ago Logan would probably have believed him but Logan knew better now.

He knew that Deceit wasn’t evil as they’d originally thought and Preston was trying to trick him like he had so many times in the past.

Logan wasn’t falling for it. Not this time.

“The only liar here is you.” Logan stated, looking Preston in the eye in a more confident sounding voice than he felt.

Preston scowled and grabbed Logan by the arm, tugging him closer. “Say that again. Slowly. And see what you get.” he growled out.

Logan could feel Prestons breath on his face and could smell the disgusting stench of blood and sweat. He was shaking slightly but he didn’t want to go back to the scared person he’d been before.

“Logan! Can you help me? I can’t get Patton to respond!” Virgils voice yelled from down the corridor and Preston sneered.

“Looks like you’re being called for, why don’t you run along now.”

Logan looked at Preston and then at the still unconscious Deceit, his brain quickly working to try and figure out a way to keep Preston from harming Deceit while he helped Patton.

“Try and carry him in here! I’ve got Deceit in here!” Logan called out, wincing as Prestons grip on his arm tightened painfully to show he was displeased with Logans behaviour.

“That was a bad idea.” Preston muttered in a low voice. “You’ll be punished for that later.”

As Virgil appeared, struggling with Patton, Preston disappeared leaving Logan rubbing his arm and trying to ignore the way his heart was pounding.

“He’s gone into shock or something.” Virgil grunted, lifting Patton onto an armchair.

“sit with Deceit and I’ll see what I can do.” Logan murmured, trying to keep his voice level as if he hadn’t just had a run in with Preston.

Virgil sat on the couch next to Deceit with a sad expression. “You can call him Jacob you know, he wouldn’t mind. You’ve helped him a few times now and I think he would probably have given you permission to refer to him as such if he had the time.”

Logan smiled sadly “I’ll ask him when he wakes up, I’d rather hear it from him than assume.”

Virgil nodded in understanding and sighed as he brushed some hair out of Jacobs face. He should have just come back to the mindspace after Logan showed him that memory of finding him sobbing.

His brow furrowed as he tried to remember what Jacob had been saying. It sounded like he was trying to talk about the others.

Virgils mind started filling with what that could mean but he was pulled out of his thoughts as Roman suddenly appeared looking out of breath.

“Thomas is in a bad state, he’s not responding to anything, he just keeps saying he feels empty and then he just stares into space as if he isn’t really seeing his surroundings!” Roman burst out.

Virgil immediately stood up and said “I’ll come see what I can do, Logan you work on snapping Patton out of it, we might need his help with Thomas if I can’t do anything.”

Logan nodded and the two traits disappeared, leaving Logan with a catatonic Patton.

“Patton? Can you hear me?” Logan asked, crouching in front of him.

Patton showed no sign that he heard Logan, his eyes were slightly glazed over as he kept looking directly ahead.

Logan felt like his chest was aching at Pattons unresponsive state and he wrapped his arms around him and let out a small sad sigh.

“Please snap out of it Patton. You’re worrying me now.” he mumbled into Pattons shoulder.

Patton didn’t react to the hug and Logans eyes started to well up. “Please Patton, I… I need you. You’re supposed to be the strong one, I can’t stand up to Preston like you can. Please… Snap out of it….. For me?”

Logans words were broken up by the occasional small sob and tears slowly slipped down his cheeks as he held Patton tightly.

He was terrified of Preston coming back while Roman and Virgil were gone because he couldn’t protect both Patton and Dece…Jacob.

“Lo…….gan…..” a barely audible voice muttered and Logan inhaled in shock.

“Patton?” he asked pulling away to look at Pattons face.

Pattons eyes had lost their glazed look and moved to lock with Logans. “Logan…I’m… Always here…” Patton murmured and Logan let out a relieved sob and engulfed him in a huge hug again.

“Don’t ever do that again. I was so scared. I thought you’d…. Maybe…. Left me.” Logan burst out.

A few tears silently fell from Pattons eyes as he softly said “I could never leave you, Logan. I love you too much to ever do that.”

Logan took a few shuddering breaths and whispered “I… I… I think I… I love you too Patton.”

Patton closed his eyes and pulled Logan in tighter. “You don’t have to say it back.”

“I know… But I mean it.” Logan replied quietly. “I’ve spent so long trying to understand what exactly it is I’m feeling and I’ve managed to work out what I truly feel. All the stuff I felt with Preston was real to begin with but eventually the warmth and joy I felt at seeing him turned to fear and shame. I fell in love with the mask Preston created and it’s taken me a long time to come to terms with the fact that was all it was but I can honestly say that right now I feel everything I did back then and more for you. I love you and I don’t ever want to lose you.”

Patton let out a sob of his own and the two sat crying into each other’s shoulders. Neither of them knew if the tears were happy or sad but they didn’t care, they had each other and that was all that mattered.

In that short little moment there was nothing else except the comforting hug of the other person and the knowledge that their feelings were returned.


	39. Hi My Name Is C̸̮̣̋̒͆̚̚a̸̛͚̦͖̬͌̀̚y̶̡̟̙͒͋̓̌̿d̸͎̃ė̴̯͈ǹ̴̗͚̟͙̞͐̊ Preston

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: mentions of blood, violence, implied abuse, character death

Preston fell to ground as he felt agony radiate through his body. The teleportation caused pressure on his injuries and he’d teleported several times in the space of a few minutes so he was gritting his teeth to prevent himself crying out.

He felt a searing pain run up his abdomen and groaned, unsure what exactly had caused it.

He winced as he pulled up his shirt and noticed the greyness had spread up to his abdomen. Seemed like that was the reason he’d felt pain but he was starting to wonder if it was caused by the antidepressants like he’d originally thought.

Sure there was a chance that it was just a slightly delayed side effect but given that Thomas wasn’t taking the pills anymore and it seemed to be getting worse at quite a rapid rate, Preston was starting to worry it was caused by something else.

He shook that thought off and struggled to his feet, inhaling sharply as he jostled a few of his injuries. He looked around at the secondary mind space which he’d claimed as his own now the secondary traits were dead.

Well, all of them except Deceit but that was mostly because Preston had decided to change his plan. He’d originally wanted to kill Deceit and present his mangled corpse to the others but he’d decided not to do that.

He had a better plan which would take a bit of time but it would prove more effective plus it would definitely be more fun.

Preston grinned but it quickly faded as his eyes locked onto something hung on the wall.

“No!” he growled, storming over to the mirror but as he got right in front of it his vision blurred and a familiar voice rang in his head.

“Cayden! Help! Hugh locked himself in the emotions room!”

Preston struggled against the memory until eventually it broke through and he was forced into a flashback.

*flashback*

Preston found himself face to face with a very exhausted and worried sounding Paxton.

“He stole the key to the emotion room and locked himself in! We need to get him out before….”

Paxtons words were cut off by a loud boom as the whole mind space shook and the lights flickered.

“Oh no. Not again.” Paxton exclaimed holding his hands over his head.

“It’s alright, I’ve got you, everything is going to be OK. You can do this.” Preston said in a gentle voice, pulling the shaking trait into his arms and hugging him tightly.

“I….. I just don’t understand…. Even after all these years…. Why do they do this to him? They’re supposed to love him!” Paxton sobbed and Preston felt tears of his own run down his face as the mindspace shook again.

“I don’t know but one day he’ll be free of them. One day all this will just be a bad memory that we can look back at and smile about how far we’ve come. This won’t last forever, I promise.”

Paxton sobbed into Preston shoulder as Preston words flowed through him and as the mindspace shook again he murmured “I hope you’re right.”

*end of flashback*

Preston opened his eyes and wiped the tears from his face, shaking his head as he tried to rid himself of all the emotions that came with the memory.

“I’m Preston. I’m strong. I’m not Him. I’m not Cayden.” he muttered but as he glanced up at the mirror he felt more tears welling up in his eyes.

In the mirror he could see his own tear streaked face and in that moment he couldn’t see himself as Preston the uncaring sadist, all he saw was Cayden.

Cayden who’d been through too much, watched everything he held dear be ripped away from him and destroyed in front of his very eyes. Cayden who used to be so brave and caring, full of love for his friends and host.

Cayden who’s last memory was of the light leaving his best friends eyes, his final message being “I still love you Cayden.”

Preston felt his whole body shake and suddenly sobs were bursting from his lips before he could stop them. He was legitimately crying for the first time in years.

Everything he’d worked so hard to forget and lock away had just come flooding back.

Remembering just how much he loved his friends made his chest hurt because along with all the good memories, he also remembered each of their deaths.

Liam had just been the beginning. With Liam gone Hugh became a mess and stopped eating, sleeping and speaking. He’d stalk the hallways with a dull expression, his eyes puffy from the constant tears as he mourned for his lost love.

While Hugh was hit hard by the loss of Liam it was nowhere near the disaster it meant for Tristan.

Cayden and Paxton tried their hardest to get through to him and do the job Liam usually did but Tristan began to ignore them more and more which just resulted in more and more pain.

The only one of them that could get through to Tristan was Hugh but he refused to help, he was too wrapped up in his own grief that he barely acknowledged the others.

The day he’d locked himself in the emotion room had been the very same day Paxton and he had met the terrifying shadow creature. It was also the day Tristan gave up.

Cayden turned away from the mirror, his eyes screwed shut as he tried to escape from his awful memories.

He pressed the palms of his hands to either side of his head as the one memory he dreaded the most began to creep to the forefront of his mind.

He could almost feel himself breaking and the memory starting to take over but as more tears started to fall his sorrowful expression twisted into one of outrage.

Caydens eyes shot open and he managed to hold off the memory by masking his pain with anger. He wiped his face furiously and turned back to face the mirror.

He glared at his reflection, breathing heavily as he took in his puffy eyes and flushed face. He could still see Cayden but the glare was all Preston.

“I am C… Preston!” he shouted, stumbling over his words slightly as he tried to disassociate from Cayden. “Cayden is dead! I don’t give a shit about anyone!”

He took a deep breath and lashed out at the mirror sending shards everywhere as it shattered into thousands of pieces.

Prestons eyes surveyed the jagged pieces and a satisfied smile worked it’s way onto his lips.

He picked up one of the larger pieces and smirked at what little of his reflection that he could see. Cold, cruel eyes looked back at him and he discarded the shard with snort.

He turned away and focused back on his plan. He had things to set up and then he was going to do what he’d been wanting to do for years.

He was going to destroy Thomas.


	40. Unresponsive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Panic attacks, violence

Thomas was sitting cross-legged on the couch, his eyes devoid of any sort of emotion.

Virgil shuddered as he and Roman tried to get some sort of reaction out of him.

“Thomas! Snap out of it!” Virgil said in a loud voice, snapping his fingers in front of Thomas’s face.

Thomas didn’t even blink.

Virgil looked to Roman who looked close to tears and he felt his chest ache. He hated the idea of Roman being hurt or upset, but there was only one thing Virgil could think of which would snap Thomas out of this state.

“I have an idea, but you’re not going to like it.” Virgil said in a quiet voice.

“What? What is it?” Roman asked, blinking away tears and locking his eyes with Virgils.

Virgils mouth went dry at the look of hope on Romans face. “Well…. Uh…. I…. Uh” he stuttered, his face going red as he realised he’d been staring.

He mentally berated himself, this wasn’t the time to suddenly get all flustered because Roman happened to be looking at him.

He cleared his throat and looked back at Thomas “I could try and use my…. Um…. Energy.”

Romans jaw dropped “But… Won’t that hurt him?”

Virgil sighed “Yes but that’s the only way I can think of to kick start his emotions again. The direct contact of my energy will cause a large burst of fear, anger and sorrow. That might then be enough to allow him to feel other things when Logan snaps Patton out of his shock.”

“wouldn’t it be better to wait for Logan to do that and then have Patton do something?” Roman asked hesitantly.

“Yes but we have no idea how long that’ll take. I don’t want to do it, it’s the last thing I ever want to do but the longer he’s like this the……” Virgil cut off as he felt pain radiate through his arm, shoulder and chest.

“Virgil? Are you OK?”

Virgil ignored Roman in favour of trying to work out what had just happened. He realised the arm that was aching was the one that was grey and quickly tugged back his collar to peek at his chest.

At seeing the greyness had spread across most of his chest, Virgil felt all the thoughts he’d had back when he’d been sealed in his room come flooding back.

“No. No. No. No!” he chanted, his voice getting louder and more panicked.

Roman was caught off guard by the sudden panic he could see on Virgils face and hear in his voice. He couldn’t understand what the anxious trait was getting so worked up about.

“Virgil? What’s wrong? What happened?”

Virgil was too lost in his thoughts to really hear anything Roman was saying but he recognised that Roman was trying to say something to calm him down.

Roman cautiously approached Virgil, well aware of how the anxious energy could suddenly react if Virgil didn’t want any sort of contact. “Virgil, I’m here, everything OK.”

Roman reached out a hand and placed it on Virgils arm, gasping as he felt the dry flakiness under his palm. He ignored the way Virgil whimpered slightly at the contact and instead surveyed the greyness with a look of horror as it began to creep up Virgils neck.

“This isn’t going to harm you! You’re going to be OK, I promise!” Roman said, wrapping his arms around Virgil while trying to ignore his own worries.

Roman felt something pulsing beneath his fingers and shuddered as he spotted Virgils energy starting to seep out. “take deep breaths, everything is going to be fine.” Roman said.

Virgil could hear Roman but his words didn’t do anything to calm the sudden writhing of his energy within him. He couldn’t see how things could be fine when the strange greyness was spreading so rapidly.

The fact he had no idea what the greyness was definitely didn’t help. He had thought it was to do with the antidepressants but now he wasn’t so sure.

If Virgil himself didn’t know what was happening how could Roman hope to help in any way?

The truth was, he couldn’t. No one could.

This thought caused Virgil to lose his hold on his energy and it surged out like a flash flood, almost knocking Roman over.

“No! Virgil! Please don’t do this!” Roman exclaimed as the energy surrounded the couch Thomas was sat on.

Virgil began to curl in on himself and his energy became less controlled, causing Roman to freak out a bit as it just narrowly missed touching Thomas.

Roman had no idea what to do. Did he keep trying to get through to Virgil or did he try and get Thomas away from the energy?


	41. He Must Be Stopped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, violence, gore, character death

Jacob looked around confused to find himself in the secondary mind space and then a familiar face came into view.

“Luni? Is that really you?” he exclaimed and rushed forward but before he could do anything Luni raised a hand and gave him a sad smile.

“You can’t touch me, this is just a dream.” he said softly and Jacob stopped, his face falling.

“He….he said he r… Ripped you apart” he whispered, looking at the floor as he tried to stop himself tearing up.

Luni sighed “Unfortunately he was telling the truth but let’s not dwell on that. The reason you’re here is because you almost completely depleted all of your energy.”

Jacob winced as Luni fixed him with a glare. “I couldn’t think of any other way to stall him. I managed to get information out of him too.”

“Although that’s true the price you’ve paid for it is heavy indeed. In fact you’re incredibly lucky to be alive right now.” Luni said in a disapproving tone.

There was a moment of silence as Jacob looked down at the floor, his mind racing.

“Preston is planning something big. I’m not sure what but when you wake up you have to stop him.” Luni said after a while, his face serious.

“How are you even here? How do you know this?” Jacob asked, looking up at Luni with a confused expression.

“I used a lot of my energy to get you to safety and I’m guessing that because you used nearly all of your own, that the left over parts of my own were absorbed enough for this conversation to take place. This is a one time thing though.”

Jacob closed his eyes as his shoulders shook, trying to hold back his sorrow at knowing he’d never be able to talk to Luni again after this.

“I’m sorry, for everything.” he murmured “I shouldn’t have brought him to you and Unwin. Neither of you should have died. It’s all my fault.”

Small sobs broke from his lips as he sank to the floor, holding his hands over his face. Luni looked down at him with tears running down his own face.

“he would have gotten round to it eventually, neither me or Unwin blame you in the slightest. In fact if you weren’t there I doubt either of us would have been motivated enough to fight so hard against him. We knew we had to protect you and so we gave it our all.”

Jacob took a few breaths and said “You can’t really mean that, I’ve been nothing but horrible to you and Unwin for as long as I can remember. You shouldn’t have given up your lives for me.”

Luni took a seat next to Jacob with a sigh. “Look at it this way, if the situation had been reversed and it was Unwin laying on the bed, injured and exhausted, what would you have done when Preston made an appearance?”

Jacob went silent as he thought about that. While he and Unwin never saw eye to eye he doubted whether he would have been able to just stand by and let Preston do what he did best. Unwin was an asshole but Jacob had never wanted him dead.

Luni had a knowing expression on his face when Jacob eventually opened his eyes to look at him. “See? So don’t blame yourself for that fuckos actions.”

“wait, you said something about Preston planning something big, how do you know that?” Jacob asked.

Luni scowled “He now has a large amount of energy due to him absorbing mine, with all that energy he can do things he couldn’t before. With his new found power and the fact you’re still alive, I’m guessing he’s realised what he can do. When you wake up you have to try and stop him. Whatever he’s planning will more than likely cause massive problems for everyone, including poor Thomas.”

Jacob struggled to take in everything that was said but when he had, a determined expression appeared on his face. “I’ll put a stop to his plan if it’s the last thing I do.”

Luni rolled his eyes “That’s probably not the best way to phrase it Jakey boy.”

Jacob groaned at the nickname but said “look at it this way, if I stop him then that’s great but if I die in the process then I get to see you and Unwin again.”

Luni raised an eyebrow at that. “That does not mean you should throw yourself into the situation with no regard for your safety.”

The surrounding area began to blur slightly and Luni’s voice became echoey. “You’re waking up. Promise you’ll think before you act.”

Jacob grinned as Luni glared at him “I will think before I act. I always do.”

“that doesn’t comfort me."Luni said as he began to fade and things began to get dark.

"Goodbye Luni.” Jacob said softly and then everything went black.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Logan and Patton were still wrapped up in each other’s arms, holding each other tightly like there was a possibility one of them would vanish at any second.

Neither of them noticed when Deceit twitched slightly and began to wake up. Not until Deceit hissed out “Son of a bitch!”

Logan pulled away from Patton and spun round to see Deceit trying to sit up, his hand clapped over his eye.

“D… Deceit? You’re awake!” he exclaimed and rushed over.

“ugh, yeah I’m awake, what the hell happened to my eye?” Deceit groaned.

“Well, P…Preston stabbed you before Virgil blasted him away from you and I healed it as best I could but although I stopped the bleeding I couldn’t fix your eye completely.” Logan explained as Deceit ran a finger over his face with a wince.

“Where’s Virgil?” Deceit asked, worry evident in his tone.

“He went to go help Roman with Thomas. Preston stabbed one of the walls in the emotion room and Thomas went unresponsive. I’ve only just managed to get Patton to come out of his shocked state.”

Deceits good eye flitted over to Patton who he noticed looked very pale and shaky. “Where’s Preston?” he asked, remembering the weird dream he’d had with Luni in it.

Logan shifted nervously. “well, uh, we don’t exactly know. He kind of vanished.”

“damn it.” Deceit muttered under his breath and he pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the protests of Logan.

“Deceit! You shouldn’t be getting up just yet, you need to rest. I can’t just stand by and..mmph.”

Deceit grinned at Logan who was glaring at him with a hand clamped over his mouth. “First things first Logan, you can call me Jacob, you’ve earned that at this point. Secondly as you can see I’ve had plenty of rest to have my energy restored enough that I can still use my abilities. Thirdly I’m not sitting around waiting for Preston to get the jump on me.”

Patton had managed to get to his feet and opened his mouth to say something but Jacob just waved his other hand so both Logan and Patton had their hands clamped over their mouths.

“I’m going to go find Preston and put a stop to whatever he’s planning. You two are welcome to go get the other two and try to help but I’m not waiting. He must be stopped.”

Jacob walked out of the room, waving his hand so Logan and Patton could speak again but not listening to their cries for him to come back. He had a job to do and nothing but death would stop him now.


	42. No!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, violence, panic attacks, character death

“What do we do? He’s going to get himself killed!” Logan said, his voice cracking as he panicked.

“Let’s go get Roman and Virgil. Then we’ll all go after him.” Patton said in a scratchy voice.

Logan took a deep breath to calm himself and nodded, the two of them quickly sinking down to go find Roman and Virgil.

When they appeared they found themselves surrounded by black energy and quickly grasped what was going on.

Logan walked over to where Virgil was curled up while Patton approached Thomas.

“Virgil? It’s me Logan. Jacob woke up and told us he was going after Preston himself. You need to snap out of it so we can help him.”

Something within Virgil stirred at the sound of Jacobs name. He vaguely remembered someone called Jacob being injured.

“Please Virgil. He’s gone to confront Preston by himself!” Logan begged.

Suddenly everything came flooding back and the energy which had been swirling across the floor at ankle height began to retract back towards Virgil who raised his head and looked at Logan with blazing eyes.

“Why didn’t you stop him?” Virgil asked in a croaky voice.

“I tried, both me and Patton tried but he used his ability to shut us up and then said he was going to find Preston and if we wanted to come get you and Roman to help then we could but he wasn’t going to wait. He walked off before we could do anything so we thought we’d get you.” Logan explained, not wanting Virgil to lash out at him with his energy.

Virgils eyes drifted over to Patton who was holding Thomas in a tight embrace whispering words of comfort in his ear. “you snapped him out of it then? That’s good. We should probably try and snap Thomas out of it before we go after Jacob.”

Roman was happy Logan had calmed Virgil down but he did feel a bit resentful that Virgil had snapped out of it at the sound of Deceits name.

He shook off his jealous thoughts and walked over to where Patton and Thomas were.

“Everything is ok, come on Thomas.” Patton murmured, already having tried to snap him out of it with tons of other words. He sighed and turned to the others. “It’s no good, he’s not responding at all.”

Logan frowned for a second as he thought then exclaimed “You could use your ability to project feelings into him.”

Patton gasped and grinned “And that’s why I love you, you’re brilliant!”

Roman and Virgil looked between the two traits in shock as Logan blushed and Patton began gathering up as many positive emotions as possible to project.

“Since when…?” Virgil asked, trailing off in disbelief.

Logans face went bright red and he muttered “We kind of confessed about 10 minutes ago. Well Patton had confessed many times before hand but I managed to sort my thoughts and feelings out enough to say it back and mean it.”

Virgil couldn’t help a small smile appearing on his lips. After the disaster of Patton walking in on a drunk Logan kissing him he’d thought they’d never confess to each other. Especially considering Logans relationship with Preston.

Virgil glanced over at Roman who was seemingly deep in thought himself. Roman had said he loved him but was that just something he’d said to get him out of his delusional state?

Virgil wasn’t sure, at the time it seemed genuine but he wasn’t exactly in his right mind so for all he knew Roman could have just said it to snap him out of it.

Before Virgil could start thinking himself in circles Patton let out a small sigh. “I can’t seem to do it.”

“what do you mean?” Roman asked, instantly coming out of his thoughts.

“Well I can project the feelings to him but they seem to just disappear.” Patton said with a worried expression.

Virgil shuddered as he remembered his previous idea. “I…. I can try with my energy if you want? I know it’ll hurt him and I really don’t want to but… Maybe it can help kick start his emotions again and then you can project all the positive ones afterwards.”

Patton looked at Virgil for a few seconds before nodding.

“Wait, are you sure? I mean is this really a good idea?” Roman asked and Patton hung his head with his eyes closed as he replied. “It’s the only plan we have Roman. We need to hurry if we’re going to get to Deceit before he finds Preston.”

Virgil took a shaky breath and closed his eyes, willing his energy to appear. He managed to produce a small wisp of black energy but it dispersed after barely a second.

“ Um…. I think it only works when I’m angry or anxious or something like that.” Virgil said in a worried voice.

Roman looked even more concerned, he didn’t want Virgil to lose it again, what if they couldn’t snap him out of it and he hurt someone badly?

Patton had a grim face as he suddenly said “Think about what would have happened if you hadn’t walked in on Preston when he had Deceit.”

Immediately Virgil let out an angry growl and black energy began to pour off of him. It curled and wound its way around the legs of the furniture and Virgil directed it upwards with a wave of his hand until it hovered around Thomas like a cloud.

As the cloud drew closer to Thomas, Virgil was finding it harder and harder to keep his energy in control.

The second it touched Thomas’s skin there was an agonised scream and Virgil felt his energy pulse and expand.

“That’s enough Virgil!” Logan shouted over Thomas’s scream as Patton was focusing on projecting positive emotions.

Virgil managed to pull his energy away from Thomas but he was quivering and gasping as his energy seemed to have a life of its own and wrapped around him like a blanket.

Thomas stopped screaming the second the energy was removed from his skin and Patton quickly projected all the positive emotions he could muster.

Roman and Logan were glancing from Thomas to Virgil, their eyes wide in concern as Virgil seemed to be struggling to control his energy.

“What… What’s g…going on?” Thomas stammered, his entire body shaking as he rubbed his arm where the energy had left a burn like mark.

“Preston damaged the emotion room in the mindspace so both you and me went into a state of shock. Virgil managed to get you out of it just enough for me to project emotions into your mind.” Patton explained but before he could say anything more Virgil let out a small cry of pain.

Roman gasped as he noticed the grey from before starting to spread up Virgils neck and his energy seemed to be constricting around him.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jacob stalked down the halls towards the imagination forest. That was where he’d last encountered Preston so that was where he would start his search.

He stood at the edge of the treeline among the rubble from the barrier and as he took a step forward his foot hit something. He looked down and noticed a phone.

He frowned, picked it up and then recognised it as Virgils. He guessed the password with a knowing smirk and decided to type out a text to send to the main traits in a group chat.

When he was done he carefully tucked Virgils phone into an inside pocket and continued on his way, his yellow eye peering around at the trees cautiously.

He made it almost to the other side of the forest when he spotted Preston limping towards him with a nasty smile.

“Ah, you’re looking more awake than last time I saw you.” Preston said. “Less bloody too. That’s a shame.”

“What are you planning?” Jacob growled, his eye narrowed as he glared at the one responsible for his ruined eye.

Preston just grinned and tilted his head to the side. “Aw, you think I’d tell you? That’s cute.”

Jacobs hands curled into fists as he hissed “You’re a vile piece of shit! Tell me what you’re planning or I’ll…”

“If I didn’t have things to do I’d probably spend a lot of time trying to trade insults with you but duty calls.” Preston said, cutting off Jacobs threat.

He took a step forward and pulled out his knife, causing Jacob to instantly back away a few steps.

“hmm, I was beginning to wonder if you had any sense of self-preservation left in that empty head of yours. I was starting to think I’d grazed whatever tiny organ serves as your brain when I stabbed you in the eye.” Preston taunted, grinning at Jacobs furious expression.

Jacobs eye darted around the area and landed on a sharp looking branch laying at the foot of one of the trees. He made a lunge for it and held it in front of him pointing towards Preston.

“You know what they say, an eye for an eye.” he said and jabbed the stick at Prestons face.

Preston smacked the branch away and swung his knife at it so it broke in half. “Good attempt but this is getting silly now.”

Suddenly everything began to get dark and a familiar scream echoed through the trees.

Thing went back to normal after ten seconds and Preston had a pleased expression on his face. “Seems like dear little Virgil attacked Thomas. I bet the others are having to pin him down, or maybe Roman had to put him down. He’s a danger to Thomas after all.”

Jacob snarled “The only danger is you and you’re going to die.”

Preston laughed “That’s quite possibly one of the funniest things I’ve heard. You’re merely a bug under my foot.”

Jacob took a step forward, raising the half of the stick he still had in his hand ready to strike.

Preston rolled his eyes “catch a hint, I have way more important stuff to do than deal with you.”

Before Jacob could respond the mindspace shook again and Preston suddenly stated sinking down, a vicious looking smirk on his face.

“No!” Jacob roared and launched himself at Preston meaning both of them sunk down.

They appeared in Thomas’s lounge behind the couch. The others hadn’t noticed them because Virgil was writhing around on the floor, his skin the same shimmery black as his energy.

Preston shoved Jacob away and took a step towards Thomas who was standing next to the couch watching the others trying to help Virgil.

“No!” Jacob shouted as he saw Preston readying his knife and everything seemed to go in slow motion.

Thomas turned around at the sound of Jacobs shout and spotted Preston with the knife.

Jacob jumped at Preston and tackled him to the floor as he began hitting Preston as hard as he could with the half of the stick he was still holding.

Preston let out a screech of pain as the weight of Jacob and the impact of the stick caused his previous injuries to twinge.

“You’re a coward! Trying to stab someone when their back is turned! What sort of Creativity does that? Oh wait, never mind you’re a failure of one!” Jacob hissed.

Preston struggled underneath Jacobs weight and let a growl before crazed laughter began bursting from his lips.

The other traits had spun round too and were watching frozen in horror as they realised Preston had managed to gain enough power to materialise in front of Thomas.

Jacob felt a searing pain in his gut and then again just under his sternum but ignored it in favour of lashing out as hard as possible with the stick.

The stick made contact with Prestons head and he had a slightly dazed look as he suddenly vanished, leaving Jacob laying on the floor.

Jacob glanced down at himself and noticed two patches of dark red starting to soak into his clothes. He vaguely wondered if Luni was pissed at him for lying but shoved that thought away as Thomas suddenly knelt next to him.

“I… I don’t know who you are but… You just saved my life.” Thomas said, his eyes widening in horror at the blood. “Oh no! Guys? Help!”

Jacob sighed “I’m a part of you, If you die we all die. I was being selfish.”

“That’s not true Jacob.” Logan said quickly coming to kneel next to Thomas.

Jacob rolled his eye. “Don’t make me out to be someone I’m not. I only care about myself and Virgil. I also have an amount of respect for you Logan but the other two can piss off.”

Virgil was still twitching and whimpering on the floor as Jacob glanced over at him.

“Virgil?” Jacob called his voice shaking.

Virgil didn’t respond and Jacob grit his teeth as he forced himself to crawl over to Virgil, ignoring the way Logan and Thomas told him to stay still.

“Virge, it’s me.” he whispered placing a hand on Virgils shoulder. “You’ve got to snap out of this, Preston almost stabbed Thomas but I stopped him. I… I don’t think I can do that a second time though.”

Virgils eyes opened and as they locked onto Jacobs face the black energy seemed to evaporate as if it had never been there in the first place.

“Jake?” Virgil asked in a small voice and Jacob grinned.

“You know I hate that nickname.”

Virgil managed a small smile “Don’t call me Virge then.” his eyes took in Jacobs full appearance and he sat bolt upright in horror. “You…. You’re bleeding!”

Jacob glanced down at himself again and sighed “That’s kind of why I can’t stop Preston from trying to stab Thomas again. I don’t think I’m gonna make it.”

“No! Don’t say that! You have to, I…. I just remembered you and the others, I’m not about to lose you again!” Virgil cried.

Jacob felt tears start running down his face as he realised Virgil didn’t know about Unwin or Luni. “Virge, the others…. They’re….” he started to say but a small sob burst from his lips and cut him off.

Virgil shook his head not wanting to believe what Jacob was trying to say “No, you’re lying. That’s what you do! They’re both fine!”

Jacob felt his arms give out and he lay on his side with a small groan. “I’m… I’m sorry. They tried to stop Preston. He came into the secondary mindspace and both Unwin and Luni tried to stop him. Luni managed to get me out at the last second and that’s when Logan found me.”

Virgil had tears in his eyes as he crawled closer to Jacob. “If… If that’s true and they’re….. Gone…. That means you have to make it! I can’t lose you too…. Please…. You’re all I have left.”

Logan and Thomas had walked over to the two of them now and Roman and Patton stood slightly behind them, unsure how to react to the situation.

“Don’t worry Virgil, he’ll be fine I can heal him.” Logan said rapidly, dropping to his knees and putting his hand over the wounds.

Jacob grabbed Logan by the wrist and shook his head. “Don’t bother. You’ve already healed me multiple times and I bet you haven’t had a second of rest. Don’t do what I did and try to tough it out or you’ll end up passing out.”

Logan opened his mouth to deny that but Jacob raised an eyebrow at him and said “I know when someone is lying, I am Deceit after all, so don’t even think about saying you’re not starting to feel worn out.”

“This can’t be happening!” Virgil sobbed and grabbed Jacob in a hug.

Jacob winced but wrapped his arms around Virgil tightly. “You’ll be OK Virge, you’ll still have Logan and the other two assholes.” he whispered.

“B….but they aren’t you! I don’t want to lose you, you’re like my big brother!” Virgil cried, his shoulders shaking.

Jacob closed his eye and sniffed, trying to hold it together for Virgils sake. “I know, no one is as good as me, but you won’t be alone. The others will be there for you and if they aren’t I’ll come back as a ghost and haunt them.”

Virgil managed a weak little laugh at that as he clung to Jacob. “I… I’m going to miss you so much.”

Jacob smiled sadly. “Me too Virge.”

Virgil pulled away from Jacob who was now struggling to keep his eye open as his breaths came in shaky gasps.

“I… I can still save you.” Logan said, forcing back tears of his own.

Jacob shook his head. “Not without exhausting yourself. I’m not worth you becoming an easy target for that psychotic fuck.”

Logan sniffled and was pulled into a hug by Patton who had a guilty expression on his face. “I… I’m sorry, for what it’s worth, I misjudged you and I regret removing Virgils memories of you.”

Jacob managed a half-hearted sneer. “I don’t need your apology, just make sure you take care of Virgil better once all this is over.”

Virgil was holding one of Jacobs hands tightly, foolishly hoping the tighter he held on the more chance Jacob would stay.

Roman knelt next to Virgil and wrapped a comforting arm round his shoulders as he looked down at Jacob with a guilty expression of his own.

Jacob noticed and rolled his eye “Don’t even bother katana boy. I don’t want or need your apologies, just promise you’ll take care of Virge, that’s all I want.”

“I promise.” Roman said gravely.

Jacob nodded and his eyelid began to droop as he murmured “Oh and Virgil?”

Virgil sobbed and stuttered out “W…w…what?”

“Promise me one thing.”

“A… Anything.” Virgil responded and Jacob forced his usual smirk on his face. “Kill that son of a bitch but don’t die in the process or I’ll… Be… Pissed.”

“I… I promise.” Virgil wailed and Jacob whispered “Also… You should… Change your… Phone’s password…. ‘Roman’ is easy to….. guess.”

Virgil let out a mixture of a sob and a laugh as Jacobs eye shut and he let out one final breath, his hand going limp in Virgils grasp.


	43. Now Let's Go Kill That S.O.B

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: mentions of blood, character death, violence

There was silence and then Virgil broke down, screams and cries of anguish bouncing off the walls as he slumped over Jacobs body.

Logan was silently shaking with tears slipping down his face as he tried to push away how much he blamed himself for Jacobs death.

He kept thinking what if he’d ignored him and healed him anyway or stayed with him in the memory library when Preston showed up or if he could have done something to Preston when he’d shown up after putting Thomas and Patton into an unresponsive state.

Patton had his arms around Logan, trying to comfort him but he could once more hear Virgils accusations from before ringing in his ears. There were so many things he could have done differently to prevent so many of the things that lead up to this moment.

He glanced over at Thomas who was sitting on the floor looking down at Deceit in a state of shock. Patton couldn’t blame him for his silence though, Thomas hadn’t even known Deceit. Although he supposed none of them except Virgil had really known Deceit properly.

Roman didn’t know what to do or how to react to the situation. He’d never really liked Deceit but seeing him protect Thomas from Preston and then die from his wounds had definitely hit him hard. His jealousy and overall dislike for the snake faced trait had been pushed aside.

He felt his heart ache as he watched Virgil hunched over the body, he hoped to never see him in so much pain ever again and silently vowed that he’d make it his mission to stop Virgil having to go through this sort of pain ever again.

Virgil felt something solid underneath his hands and frowned in confusion, still sobbing and hiccupping.

He pulled out a phone he recognised as his own and remembered Jacobs comment about his password so he quickly unlocked it and found it was already on the messaging app.

He sniffed and gulped a bit as he clicked on the top option which turned out to be a group chat with all the others.

He noticed there was a message, and his eyes scanned through it although he had to reread parts of it due to his watery eyes.

*the text*

Dear all of you, this is Deceit on Virgils phone. Before you roll your eyes in disgust or whatever let it be known that I despise Preston and I managed to get some useful information out of him. I’m on my way to confront him at the moment and it’s likely I won’t be coming back so I guess this could be considered a goodbye but that sounds way too cheesy and cliché.

Think of it as more of a ‘here’s some useful information to help you because I won’t be able to tell you in person’ kind of thing.

Preston isn’t his real name, his real name is Cayden and he let slip that when he chased me around the memory library.

He was going on about love making people weak and said something about 'if it weren’t for love Hugh wouldn’t have given up so easily’ or something like that and I said love makes you strong and he blurted out love was the reason he was Preston and not Cayden.

Obviously I asked what happened to turn him from Cayden to Preston but he just said it didn’t matter because Cayden died a long time again and he was going to rip me apart.

I’m not sure how this information will help, in fact it probably won’t but just in case I thought I’d better share it.

Anyway toodles, goodbye, deuces, all that kinda stuff.

*end of the text*

Virgil locked his phone and put it in his pocket with a small gulping sob sound.

He looked back down at Jacob and put a hand on his chest, hunching over as he whispered “Goodbye Jacob, I’ll miss you.”

As Virgil said those words he started crying again, this time silently as Jacobs body began to slowly fade.

Thomas eventually found his voice and asked “Can… Can someone please explain what’s going on?”

Patton exchanged a look with Roman and they both agreed they’d have to explain because neither of the other two were in the right state to.

“you know how we said there was someone who was able to keep our mouths shut? Well that was who we were talking about. We got him to distract Preston that time when Virgil was flipping between two people and you had to force him to stop.” Roman said and waited for Thomas to take in everything he’d said.

“when Logan disappeared after Virgil fell unconscious he came across Deceit and healed the injuries he sustained from Preston. The two of them started going through old memories until Logan came to warn us about what they’d found out about Preston but then Preston managed to get to Deceit and stabbed him in the eye which Logan managed to heal but Preston got away after stabbing the emotion room wall. That’s what sent both me and you into our unresponsive states.” Patton said, trying to explain everything but not wanting to make Logan or Virgil feel any worse.

“And what just happened?” Thomas asked in a low voice.

“Well, it seemed as if Preston managed to gain enough energy to materialise in front of you and he planned to stab you and kill us all in one go but Deceit…. He saved you and all of us.” Roman muttered the last part, feeling a reluctant amount of respect towards the scaled trait.

Thomas nodded and a couple tears ran down his face. He was utterly shocked and horrified by what he’d found out and wished he could have done something to help prevent some of the things that had happened.

There was a few moments where the only sounds were the occasional sniff from Virgil or Logan.

Suddenly Virgil pushed himself to his feet, face streaked with tears but a grim determined expression on his face as he growled “He killed Jacob, now let’s go kill that son of a bitch.”


	44. Preston's Funhouse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: mentions of blood, violence, gore, character death, manipulation, panic attack

Roman was the first to respond to Virgils comment. “Virgil, you’re right but surely we should have a small amount of rest or something before we charge in like that.”

Virgil looked at Roman, his eyes puffy and red from crying. “No! Any time we spend resting means more time for that bastard to regain his strength! We need to go stop him now while he’s still recovering from using so much energy to materialise!”

Logan got to his feet, wiping his face quickly as he muttered “I agree with Virgil. We should take him down as fast as possible.”

Patton felt everyone looking at him, waiting for his opinion and sighed. “We don’t even know where he is. He could be anywhere in the mindspace by now.”

Virgil scowled. “I know where he probably is and if he’s not there we will hunt him down. He’ll pick us off one by one if we let him.”

Roman thought for a few seconds before saying “OK, let’s do this but first we need to stop by the imagination forest so I can make everyone a weapon. There’s no way Preston won’t have one so we’ll need more than our fists for this.”

Virgil nodded and the four traits prepared themselves to go back to the mindspace when Thomas suddenly spoke up.

“What do I do? I want to help in some way. I don’t know if I can stand just sitting around waiting for either one of you to turn up and tell me everything is OK or for Preston to reappear and stab me.”

Patton fiddled with the sleeves of his cardigan, he had an idea but didn’t know if it was a good one or not.

Logan eyed Patton, picking up on his reluctance, and said “If you’ve got an idea tell us.”

“Well, technically Thomas could come with us but if we’re really going to confront Preston that might be dangerous.” Patton said and Thomas immediately exclaimed “I want to come with you! I don’t care how dangerous it is, I want to help.”

Roman frowned “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Thomas you would be an easy target for Preston if you came with us.”

Virgil huffed in annoyance “Look can we hurry this up? The longer this takes the more time Preston has to regain his power and I for one am not waiting around much longer.”

To emphasise this point Virgil started to sink down.

Roman and Patton exchanged looks of mild panic as they tried to persuade Thomas to just stay behind but the host was having none of it.

Eventually they sunk down and reappeared in the main mindspace with Thomas looking around curiously.

“Right now let’s go grab some weapons and go kill this fuck.” Virgil muttered as he stormed off down the corridor towards the imagination forest.

The others jogged slightly to catch up with him and Thomas was having to hold back a lot of questions.

Virgil came to a stop as they stood at the border of the forest and spun round to face Roman. “OK we’re here, now start creating.”

Roman raised an eyebrow at Virgil, not liking being bossed around but closed his eyes and started focusing on things to help them take down Preston.

While he was doing so Virgil was scanning the area, his eyes darting to every shadow just in case Preston showed up.

Logan was trying to remain calm as he came to terms with the fact they were going to be confronting the person who’d hurt him so much over the years. Patton making the occasional pun and small comment was quite comforting and Logan gave him a small smile.

Thomas was looking around at the trees in awe, he’d never seen trees so wide and tall before, it was like having his very own version of the Forbidden Forest from Harry Potter or something.

He took a step forward and accidentally stepped on a twig which made Virgil flinch and spin on the spot, his eyes blazing wildly as they locked onto Thomas.

“Whoops.” Thomas commented as Virgil glared at him. “I didn’t mean to make you jump.”

Virgil grit his teeth and turned away, trying to ignore the odd churning in his gut that signalled his energy was close to breaking free. He didn’t need to lose himself to his energy right now.

Roman finished creating the weapons and wiped some sweat from his brow as he signalled to the others that he was done.

Virgil immediately grabbed a long sword that was quite similar to Romans katana.

Patton reluctantly took the small dagger Roman handed him while Logan took the baseball bat, his hands shaking.

“Do I get something or am I just going to be standing around watching?” Thomas asked.

Roman sighed “I still don’t agree with you being here but I guess you should have something to protect yourself if Preston manages to get to you.” he handed Thomas a basic dagger, similar to Pattons.

Roman then pulled out his own katana and looked to Virgil. “You said you think you know where he is, shall we get going?”

Virgil nodded and lead the way into the forest, followed closely by Roman.

Patton gestured for Thomas to go in front of him and he and Logan brought up the rear.

The group traipsed through the forest for a fair few minutes before Virgil came to a stop, his eyes locked onto a familiar grey door.

“The secondary mindspace?” Roman asked in a quiet voice and Virgil nodded, his mouth dry.

Virgil took a deep breath and turned the handle, swinging the door open so they could see inside.

The smell of stale blood wafted out and Virgil felt his stomach lurch as he spotted dark streaks on the floor and walls of the corridor the door had revealed.

“are you sure he’s in there?” Thomas whispered, his eyes wide in alarm at both the smell and sight of the corridor.

Virgil took a shaky breath and walked through the door, trying to ignore the way his whole body was trembling and his mind was racing with all the possible scenarios.

It was clear right away that Preston had known they’d turn up because on one of the walls in dried blood he’d written the words welcome to Prestons funhouse.

Virgil exchanged a look of apprehension with Roman and they both tightened their grips on their weapons.

Thomas stayed close to Roman while Patton was holding onto Logans hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

The group walked down the corridor until they came to a sharp corner which Virgil knew led to the lounge.

“This way.” Virgil whispered and they quietly turned the corner, coming to a stop at a door that was probably grey underneath all the blood.

Virgil shuddered as he reached out and opened the door, trying not to get the blood on him.

The door swung open and suddenly all the lights went out, causing the group to clump together in fear.

Virgil gulped and took a step forward only to let out a cry of horror as the light flickered on to reveal the gory remains of a body.

He couldn’t tear his eyes away as he recognised what little scraps of clothing were left as Unwins.

Roman tried to get Virgils attention but it seemed the anxious trait had gone into a state of shock.

Roman turned around to try and get the others help but none of them could get Virgil to respond, not even Thomas.

“Ah, you’ve seen my first masterpiece then? I do hope you like it, it took a lot of meticulous work, prying apart the bones and making sure to spread all the internal organs around was particularly fun.” Prestons voice echoed around the room but he was nowhere to be seen.

Virgil jolted out of his shocked state and looked around the room, forcing back his tears with anger. “Show yourself, you coward!”

Preston let out a chuckle. “are you sure that’s what you want? I’d hate to disappoint you but surely it’d be safer for all of you if you just turn around and walk away.”

Virgil opened his mouth to shout something but fell silent when something similar to a projector suddenly lit up one of the only blood free walls.

“Is that all you’ve got?” taunted a familiar voice and Virgil froze, tears running down his face as he watched Unwins final moments.

Unwin ducked and dodged Preston, managing to shove him back but Preston suddenly lunged forward and plunged the knife into Unwins throat and then ripped it back out.

The knife Unwin had been holding, fell out of his hands with a clang and his body slumped to the floor, blood gushing from his throat as he struggled to breathe.

Unwins face was one of pain and shock as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he moved no more.

The projector turned off and Prestons voice echoed around the room again.

“He tried but there was no way an amateur was going to best me. It was definitely a satisfying kill, the way his blood spurted out, I was drenched in it. Ah, such a lovely memory.”

“How did you even manage to project a memory?” Roman asked. He was reluctantly impressed but was also well aware of Thomas quivering right behind him and how pale Virgil had gone.

“It took a bit of work but with such a large imagination forest it wasn’t particularly hard to conjure what I needed. That’s beside the point though. The real question is what are you doing here? You can’t defeat me, even with those lovely looking toys you’ve got with you.” Preston said in a casual voice as if he were merely asking how their day went.

“Where are you? Why are you hiding?” Virgil managed to yell, his face streaked with tears.

“Who says I’m hiding?” Prestons voice suddenly came from the corner of the room and Virgil let out a horrified shriek.

Preston was covered in blood and was holding handfuls of flesh and gore which in itself was alarming but the thing that had made Virgil shriek was the bloody but unmistakably bright lime green bandanna that was plastered to a flap of skin Virgil recognised as Lunis face.

“dear, sweet Luni was kind enough to let me borrow his bandanna, can you believe that?” Preston said in a mocking voice, enjoying the way Virgil visibly began to break as he raised the face he was holding.

He’d had a lot of fun trying to peel it off and he was happy at the reaction Virgil was giving.

Roman stepped forward in front of Virgil with his katana raised and a look of disgust on his face “You’re outnumbered, give yourself up or we will kill you.”

Preston let out a cackle and wagged a blood covered finger in Romans direction. “You’re quite the jokester huh? What makes you think I’d ever give up? I’m right where I wanna be and there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m….” Preston suddenly stopped, a look of surprise on his face.

“Wow, damn, never thought it was so easy to start monologuing, I take back every snide comment I’ve ever made about characters that do that. Guess that means I really am the villain here then.” he grinned and tilted his head, a crazed glint in his eyes.

Roman leapt forward with his katana but suddenly Preston disappeared and the handfuls of gore that he’d been holding fell to the floor with a loud splat.

Roman walked over to Virgil who looked like he was going to pass out and quickly blocked his view of the gory, bloody room. “We need to get him out of here, Virgils not going to manage if we stay here much longer.” Roman said.

Thomas held onto one of Virgils arms and started tugging him back out into the corridor only to find the door leading back out of the secondary mindspace had been locked.

Roman cursed under his breath and as Virgil slumped into him he had an idea. There were 5 people which was more than he’d attempted to teleport before but he was confident he could do it. “Grab a hold of me, I’m gonna get us out of here.” he said and closed his eyes, focusing on the imagination forest.

It took about a minute before they all suddenly appeared in the forest, Roman feeling slightly dizzy and Virgil having passed out from shock.

“What the heck was that?” Thomas asked, his face pale from what he’d witnessed.

“That was P…Preston in his element. He lives for torture, physically, mentally and emotionally.” Logan muttered, stumbling over Prestons name slightly as he forced away his own unpleasant memories.

“It’s alright Logan, we’ll defeat him and then you’ll never have to worry about him ever again.” Patton declared, wrapping an arm around Logans waist and squeezing slightly.


	45. I'm Not Weak. Not Anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Non-consensual kisses, manipulation, violence

Roman had recovered from his dizziness and was trying to wake Virgil up but with no success. “Can someone help me?” he asked and Thomas came and knelt next to him.

“Virgil!” Thomas said loudly but the anxious trait didn’t even flinch. “oh wait I’ve got an idea! If I think of things that make me anxious he should wake up.” Thomas exclaimed and closed his eyes to think of things that made him nervous.

Virgils eyes shot open and he sat up panting, looking around frantically.

“Hey, shh everything’s fine.” Roman said in a comforting voice and was completely thrown off guard when Virgil burst into tears and clung to him as if his life depended on it.

Roman wrapped his arms around the sobbing trait and closed his eyes, wishing he could take away all of Virgils pain.

Thomas smiled sadly at the sight of the two hugging and refrained from speaking so he didn’t interrupt the moment they were having.

Logan was leaning against one of the trees with his back to where Virgil and Roman were. He was struggling to keep his mind from comparing what he’d seen in the secondary mindspace to what could have happened to the main mindspace if he’d stayed with Preston.

“Logan? Are you alright?” Patton asked, coming to stand in front of him.

Logan sighed and looked down at the floor as he mumbled “I just can’t help but think about what might have happened if I’d stayed with Him.”

Patton put a finger under Logans chin and lifted his head up so he could look him in the eyes. “You listen to me, there’s no point letting your mind linger on ‘what ifs’ and 'if onlys’ or you’ll just cause yourself nothing but more stress and pain. I should know, that’s what I’ve been doing for the past few days myself. In fact I guess me saying that makes me a bit of a hypocrite but that’s beside the point. Don’t worry about what could have happened, just focus on the future and how you can make it become what you want.”

Logan was stunned by Pattons inspirational speech and before he could stop himself he whispered “This is why I love you.”

Both of them had pink cheeks as Patton leaned in to place a soft kiss on Logans lips.

However before their lips could connect a familiar voice taunted “Aw how cute! I just might vomit!”

Preston was stood right behind Patton and before anyone could react he grabbed him and disappeared.

“No!” Logan exclaimed and tears welled up in the corners of his eyes as he stared at the spot where Patton had just vanished.

Roman had jumped to his feet and dashed forward as soon as he spotted Preston but no one could do anything. Patton was gone.

Logan grabbed both sides of his head as the gravity of what had just happened hit him. “No, I’m not doing this! This isn’t happening!” he yelled.

Roman tried to comfort him but Logan just grit his teeth and shook his head, tears running down his face. “I’m not going to just stand here.” he muttered and picked up the baseball bat he’d dropped when they’d arrived.

“Logan, you don’t even know where they are!” Thomas shouted but Logan ignored him and sprinted off among the trees, baseball bat in hand.

Logan ran through the trees, barely taking notice as branches caught him across the face or snagged on his clothes. All he could think about was stopping Preston from hurting Patton.

He came to a stop to catch his breath and he looked around, his eyes narrowing as he recognised where he was.

He started running again until he reached a familiar clearing. In the centre of the clearing stood Preston with a struggling Patton.

“Let me go!” Patton yelled, trying to kick out at Preston but couldn’t quite get the right angle.

Preston noticed Logan and smirked. “Ah, if it isn’t my favourite little toy. You’re in time for the show.”

Logan glared at Preston and tightened his grip on the baseball bat in his hand.

Preston obviously noticed because he laughed. “Go ahead, try and hit me and see what happens.”

Logan looked from Preston to Patton with a calculating look and muttered “What kind of 'show’ are you on about?”

Preston grinned maliciously. “This.”

Suddenly he planted a kiss on Pattons lips and Patton struggled desperately to get away, cringing at the feeling of Prestons cold lips on his own but as the seconds passed Patton felt himself getting dizzy and light-headed.

Logan took a couple steps forward to try and pull Preston off but was blasted backwards into a tree.

Pattons legs buckled so Preston was holding him up and his limbs felt too sluggish to move. Everything felt numb and his breath was forming clouds as it left his frozen lips.

Preston pulled away and laughed at the way Patton had succumbed so quickly, just like when Preston had been reformed in the emotions room.

Logan stood up, wincing in pain and his eyes blazing as he focused on Preston who was watching him with a pleased smirk.

“let him go.” Logan growled, his hands clenched into fists.

“aw, but he’s so much fun. He’s so weak he’s not even able to fight back. Makes me wonder why I didn’t target him first. Ooo just imagine all the fun I could have had with him. He’s so easily fooled I’d probably be able to make him believe he was enjoying himself too. I wonder if there’s still time to test that theory out.” Preston said eyeing up Patton with a smile.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” Logan hissed. “You’re not going to do anything to him!”

Preston raised an eyebrow at Logan “Who’s going to stop me? You? Don’t make me laugh, you’re nothing. Just a weak little logical trait who tries to pretend he’s tougher than he actually is.”

Logan raised the baseball bat with a determined expression. “I’m not weak. Not anymore.”

Preston grinned “Watch what you’re doing with that bat, who knows you might hurt my new toy.”

Logan ignored him and swung the bat at Preston who didn’t even bother to dodge, instead he dropped Patton on the floor and a long sword materialised in his hands, slicing the baseball bat in half.

Logan gasped in shock as the baseball bat fell apart in his hands and eyed the sword fearfully.

“Now, make one move and this sword will become embedded in his face. Understand?” Preston said cheerfully, holding the blade over Patton.

“Now from what I’ve seen it almost looked like you were considering kissing this little wimp earlier. Surely I was wrong though, after all you still love me so you’d never do anything like that.” Preston taunted, resting a foot on Pattons chest and putting some of his weight on it until Patton whimpered in pain.

Logan was shaking with rage as he watched Preston but he kept it in check because he didn’t want to give Preston a reason to use his sword, which was hovering above Pattons face.

Patton was dazed and confused. He couldn’t feel his limbs, it was as if he’d been outside in the cold for too long and they’d gone numb. He couldn’t remember what had happened and he felt sure that whatever the voices he could hear were discussing was important but he just couldn’t seem to focus his fuzzy mind.

He opened his eyes to see someone standing over him and whimpered in pain as whoever it was stepped on his chest.

He tried to move but he couldn’t, it was like his entire body had fallen asleep and a sharp looking blade suddenly appeared above him.

He managed to turn his head to the side and spotted the other person. They seemed familiar and although he didn’t feel sad, in fact he felt rather empty, for some reason tears rolled down his cheeks.

He tried to listen to what the familiar person was saying but he had an odd buzzing in his ears that distorted everything the person said.

The person above him leant down and it was as if the buzzing had no effect as they said “You want to be here, with me, don’t you?”

Patton frowned in mild confusion as he replied in a monotone voice “I don’t know.”

The person leant closer, reaching their hand down and placing it on his cheek. “Try again.” they said in a soft voice.

Pattons eyes closed at the sudden cold that radiated from the person’s touch and found himself drawn to it because it chased away the strange numbness that had taken hold of him.

“You want to stay with me, don’t you Patton?” they asked and Patton opened his eyes again, staring up at the person who could break through the buzzing in his ears.

“Yes.” he said and felt himself get pulled to his feet.

“That’s a good little morality, now tell me, do you know who I am?”

Patton looked at the person, squinting slightly as his vision was a little blurry despite the glasses.

“Logan?” he asked and the person laughed as the other person in the clearing let out a loud cry of rage.

Patton frowned and turned to look at the angry person, he couldn’t make out proper words but something about their voice made him feel almost warm.

“Pay no attention to him, he’s shouting about how much he hates you.”

Patton looked back to the person in front of him. “Why does he hate me?” he asked and got a weird deja vu feeling. It was almost as if he’d said something very similar to this very same person at some point in the past.

Suddenly there was an ache in his head and he shut his eyes. He could see the person who apparently hated him and himself crouched in a hallway…. Kissing? The scene flashed to them hugging on an armchair and he could hear the person sobbing and begging him to wake up. He watched as the other him suddenly whispered the word “Logan.”

Pattons eyes snapped open and he let out a gasp as warmth suddenly spread through his body, the numbness and cold being washed away.

His eyes locked onto Prestons face and he tried to back away but a hand closed around his wrist and pulled him closer.

“That was a very clever trick Logan but I did say if you made one move…” Preston said angrily.

“Technically I didn’t move so you can’t hurt him if you want to stick to your word.” Logan shouted, panting slightly from having forced those memories into Pattons mind.

Preston chuckled as Patton continued to struggle. “I never gave you my word I wouldn’t, I just said I would if you moved.”

Logans eyes widened at that and he darted forward only to get blasted back again by Prestons ability.

While Preston had his focus on Logan, Patton seized his chance and launched a kick at Prestons leg. By chance he connected with the one that had been injured during Prestons fight with Luni, the flaky one, and Preston let out a cry of pain, his hands letting go of both his sword and Pattons wrist.

Patton tried to run to Logan but his legs buckled and he hit the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of himself.

Preston let out a loud growl of anger and picked his sword back up, raising it ready to swing down onto Patton.

“Patton move!” Logan shouted and let out a gasp as Patton rolled to the side just in time.

Prestons sword stabbed into the ground and when he tried to tug it back out it refused to budge. “It’s fine I don’t need a sword to kill someone!” Preston snarled and launched himself at Patton.

Logan watched in horror as the two began grappling on the ground. He ran towards them and tried to help but it was difficult to distinguish who’s limbs were who’s.

There was suddenly a sickening crack and a scream of agony burst from Pattons lips.

Preston cackled, letting go of the arm he’d just broken and reached for the other one but his hand never got there because he was suddenly grabbed and pulled away from Patton.

He blinked and suddenly found himself face to face with Logan who looked about ready to kill someone. Preston aimed a punch at Logan but his wrist was grabbed and his punch was stopped before it hit his target.

“I am not your little punching bag anymore! You won’t hurt me or anyone else again if I have any say in it!” Logan shouted, shaking angrily.

Preston tried to use his ability but before he could blast Logan away he felt everything suddenly fall quiet and an ache began to build up in his head.

As it got worse everything began to blur. Everything except him and Logan.

The surroundings disappeared and as Prestons eyes rolled into the back of his head the last thing he saw were Logans sad but determined eyes.


	46. The Birth Of A Monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, violence, abuse, bullying, character death, homophobia, suicide, panic attacks, self harm

Screams.

That’s all Logan could hear in the blurry void around him.

He was confused. He thought he’d used his ability to get into Prestons mind but as he looked around he couldn’t see anything that he usually saw in a person’s mind.

He cautiously ventured towards the screams as there seemed to be nothing else to do and found himself in front of a large grey wall that was covered in cracks and had a couple of holes in it.

He peered through one of the holes and saw a figure on the ground clutching their head. This was where the screaming was coming from.

Logan hesitantly reached a hand out and pressed it against the wall which shuddered before crumbling to dust.

When the dust cleared Logan found himself staring down at someone who could have been a teenage Preston but before he could get closer an enormous roar came from somewhere and the persons screams suddenly stopped.

Scanning the surrounding area with wide eyes Logan wondered what had made that sound but brushed it off in favour of approaching the person on the floor.

As Logans hand made contact with the persons shoulder they looked up, their dark brown eyes full of fear and worry.

Then Logan felt the familiar sensation of falling into a memory.

He looked around and noticed he was in a mindspace. His eyes locked onto the person he’d just seen, who was sitting on a couch with three others who looked almost the same as him but with different clothes and style.

“Are you sure he’s going to be OK if we’re not watching what he’s doing?” one of them asked, wringing their hands in a nervous way.

“He’ll be fine Liam and we have alarms set up just in case. Just relax a little.” One of the others who appeared to be wearing some sort of school uniform had placed a comforting hand on the worried ones arm.

Liam sighed “I’m sorry, it’s just after what happened last time it’s difficult to stop myself from wanting to keep watch over him all the time.”

The one in uniform smiled and placed a peck on Liams cheek. “There’s no need to apologise.”

“Get a room you two.” The one Logan had assumed was Preston suddenly said, a smirk on his face.

Liam rolled his eyes and stuck his middle finger up at him while the one in uniform groaned “Shut the fuck up Cayden.”

“Liam! Hugh! There is no need for that sort of language.” scolded the one who’d been quiet this entire time in a stern voice which he ruined slightly by giggling.

Logans eyes widened as he realised these must be Tristans sides.

He focused back on the scene in front of him as the giggling trait turned to Preston.

“They’re so adorable!”

Preston grinned “Yep! Adorable, soft little lovebirds.”

“ugh! Paxton how many times do I have to tell you? I am not adorable! And Cayden I swear to god I will burn all your posters if you don’t stop encouraging him.” Liam said, sending a mild glare at Cayden.

Caydens eyes widened and he fell silent which made Hugh chuckle slightly. “Not so brave now are you Cay? Imagine being scared of Liam.”

Liam raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend “Excuse me?”

Hugh cleared his throat and smiled at him “I meant… Uh… I love you?”

Liam snorted and muttered “Good save.”

Logan felt awkward and a little sad watching all this because he knew that this happy little moment was rare and something bad had obviously happened to make Cayden become Preston.

Sure enough, as the traits focused back on the TV where they’d been watching something, a loud alarm started ringing and Liam immediately jumped to his feet.

“Paxton get to the emotion room just in case, Hugh and Cayden come with me.” he said and sunk down, presumably to the real world.

As Cayden followed Logan found himself in a basic looking bedroom that had seen better days.

The walls were faded, the floor wasn’t carpeted, there was a single small window that looked out at a tree and the bed appeared to be poorly repaired.

The thing that drew Logans attention the most was a figure crouched on the floor shaking.

Liam dashed forward and sat in front of the teen, worry in his voice as he spoke.

“Tristan? Can you hear me? It’s Liam.”

“I… I can hear you.” came the smallest of whispers and Liam let out a small sigh of relief.

“What you need to do is get into bed and pretend to be asleep. It’s almost time for Him to get home and you know what he’s like.”

Cayden suddenly crouched next to Liam and attempted to put a hand on Tristans shoulder only for it to phase through him.

Logans eyes widened in shock. Surely as a teenager Tristan should have been able to make physical contact with his traits? Unless there was some odd reason why he couldn’t.

Cayden had a sad expression on his face as he watched his hand phase through Tristans shoulder but shook it off with a smile. “Listen, get into bed, shut your eyes and let me show you all the wonderful things you can do in the future. You’ll be able to get far away from here to somewhere safe, with people who’ll care about you and…”

There was a loud bang from elsewhere in the house and all the people in the room jumped, including Logan.

A loud thumping that sounded like feet stomping up the stairs followed and Tristan quickly dived into his bed while his traits whispered to him.

“Even out your breathing, that’s it, now add a bit of a slight snore sound so he thinks you’re asleep.” Cayden whispered in a calm voice, his eyes wide with fear as they locked onto the bedroom door where the handle was starting to turn.

Logan backed away, even though he couldn’t be hurt as it was only a memory.

The door burst open to reveal a tall angry looking man with cold dark eyes that reminded Logan of present day Preston.

He stalked into the room, glaring down at the seemingly asleep Tristan.

Hugh was whispering quickly, helping Liam to convince Tristan to keep up the act that Cayden was helping him with.

“If you’re asleep he can’t hurt you. You’ve done nothing wrong. He can’t punish you for being awake if you keep this up. You’ll be fine.” Hugh was saying.

Logan watched hoping that Hughs logic held up but as the man reached a hand out and grabbed Tristan by the arm he knew that poor Tristan wasn’t going to be left alone.

“Wake up you little freak!” the man growled harshly tugging the boy out of the bed so he landed on the wooden floor with a loud thud.

“No! This isn’t supposed to be happening! Logically he should have just walked back out!” Hugh exclaimed, looking angry and upset.

Liam shook his head “He’s been drinking. There’s nothing we can do if he’s been drinking, no way to placate him.”

The man was staring down at the boy on the floor with a nasty grin and glazed eyes from where he’d been drinking. “I heard some rumours while I was at the bar. Very interesting ones about you.”

Tristans eyes were wide in confusion and fear and Liam whispered “Don’t say anything. If you speak he’ll get pissed off and lash out, remain silent and wait for him to explain.”

“Apparently one of the men there has a son in your class at school who’s told his father a lot of things involving you. This boy, this Striker kid, has apparently been getting into quite a lot of trouble for ‘picking on’ you.” the man said, his grin still in place.

Tristan seemed about to open his mouth to defend himself but Liam quickly interjected. “Tristan! No! Don’t say a word! He’s trying to get you to say something so he has an excuse to hurt you!”

Tristan stayed quiet, looking up at the man, waiting for him to continue.

“Apparently this boy seems to be under the impression he’s noticed you staring at someone in your class with an odd little smile on your face.” the man continued, his nasty grin becoming a sneer.

“Oh shit.” Cayden whispered with wide eyes as Liam gasped and Hugh spluttered in disbelief.

“Apparently this someone is another boy.” the man snarled, making Tristan flinch.

Logan could feel his own heart pounding in fear for the boy in front of him. This was a bad situation.

“what have you got to say for yourself?” the man roared and Tristan had tears in his eyes.

“Don’t…. Don’t say anything….” Liam said, his voice coming out almost too quiet to be heard as he started gasping for breath. “it’s… A… Trick question.”

Tristan was going to listen but the man before him snarled “Answer me boy!”

“I…. I….” Tristan stuttered in terror.

Liam had fallen to the floor, trying to shout but nothing was coming from his lips as he tried to tell Tristan to remain silent.

Hugh and Cayden were both almost in tears as they tried to help Liam up but their hands phased through him.

“spit it out boy!” the man shouted, looming over Tristan with his fists clenched.

“It’s not something he can control! He can’t help who he falls for!” Cayden cried out, tears slipping down his face.

“I… Can’t help it.” Tristan whispered and Caydens face filled with horror. He hadn’t meant for Tristan to say that.

“You unnatural little freak! You tarnish this house and family with your filth! I’ve been lenient with you so far, perhaps it’s time I show you the real meaning of pain!” the man roared, flecks of spit flying everywhere.

Logan let out a cry as the man suddenly kicked a leg out and caught Tristan in the face.

All three of the traits that were present let out loud screams and clutched their faces, Caydens being the loudest as he also represented the ego.

Tristan fell back with a shriek, hands over his now bloody face as his entire body shook. A foot suddenly stamped down on his stomach, knocking all the air out of him and making him gasp desperately.

Logan turned away, unable to watch as the man, who was presumably Tristans father, savagely beat him. It reminded him too much of Preston and he shook his head in disgust as he realised this was where he probably learnt it from.

The scene suddenly changed and Logan reasoned it was because he was in a different memory.

Looking around he recognised it as a school and he noticed Tristan standing by a classroom door which was cracked open slightly.

Tristans face seemed to be heavily covered in foundation to conceal bruises and it was probably only because no one wanted to notice that Tristan hadn’t been asked what happened.

Logan approached the door and his eyes widened as he heard a familiar voice singing the song Reflection from the Disney film Mulan.

He looked through the crack and, sure enough, there sat Thomas sitting at his desk, leaning back in his chair and singing to himself.

He glanced over at Tristan and noticed him mouthing the words along with Thomas, a soft smile on his face.

Behind Tristan stood Cayden who had his eyes shut and a small smile on his face as he also sang along, slightly louder than Tristan in a voice that caught Logan by surprise.

As the song drew to an end Tristan slowly slipped away from the door and into a bathroom where he looked in the mirror and sighed.

“This is getting kind of ridiculous now and I wish I could do as you say and just walk in and tell him how amazing he sounds but… I don’t want him to suffer through what I do. He’s so sweet and kind, I’d end up causing him too much pain.” Tristan said in a sad voice.

Logan winced at his last statement because he unknowingly had. At least Preston had anyway.

“I guess but that still doesn’t mean you can’t talk to him once in a while. Say hello in the corridors and smile at him whenever he looks your way. It doesn’t have to be something grand or elaborate if you don’t feel up to it.” Cayden said encouragingly.

Suddenly the door banged open and Logan recognised the boy who walked in as Huxley Striker. He watched as Tristan started shaking and tried to blend in with the wall.

Cayden was glaring at Huxley furiously and muttering under his breath “It’s all his fault! If I could run him through with my sword I would and then maybe we’d be free from pain at school.”

Huxley walked right past where Tristan was, not noticing him, so Tristan made a mad dash towards the door.

“Was that a little mouse I just saw?” Huxley suddenly said, and Tristan moved quicker, running towards the classroom he’d just been peering into.

He darted in and collided with a desk in his haste to get away from Huxley.

He didn’t even glance at whoever was sat there as he ran to the back of the classroom in terror, desperately wishing he could make himself invisible.

“aw, did the ickle mouse try and find a nice safe hole to hide in?” mocked Huxley as he walked into the classroom.

Logans eyes widened as he remembered how this scenario went. He had seen this exact memory from Thomas’s perspective.

As he glanced over at Thomas he could see him sneaking glances over at where Huxley had cornered Tristan.

“Hey freak, running away from me was a big mistake.” Huxley said, grabbing Tristan by the shirt. “Do I have to give you another reminder of why you should listen to your superiors?”

Logan watched as Cayden let out a low angry growl and suddenly Liam appeared.

“Cayden, no! You know we can’t! Paxton is trying his best to keep Tristan from crying right now as it is. We’ll just have to let this happen.”

Caydens angry face fell as he let out a sigh “One of these days they’ll get what they deserve.”

As Huxley swung his fist towards Tristans face, both Liam and Cayden closed their eyes, bracing themselves for the pain but it never came.

“Mr Striker!” a teacher shouted from the doorway. “Come with me, this will be the third time this week I’ve had to tell you about leaving Mr Mallory alone, I’m taking you to the principals office.”

Cayden and Liam let out sighs of relief at Tristan getting away without injury and Cayden muttered “That’s what I call payback you little shit for brains.”

Liam smirked at that and was about to say something when suddenly Tristan was approached by Thomas.

“Oh my god.” Cayden breathed, his eyes wide while Liam had his mouth open in shock.

“Tristan, right?” Thomas asked “My name’s Thomas. I saw what happened and if the teacher hadn’t come in I would have done something to help.”

Tristan opened his eyes from where he’d braced himself for Huxleys fist and heard Cayden and Liam voices encouraging him to speak to Thomas.

“D…. Don’t worry a… About me. I…. I can handle it.” Tristan stuttered out in barely a whisper.

“Yes! Well done Tristan! Maybe not the best choice of words but you actually spoke to him! I’m going to scream.” Cayden said rapidly, clapping his hands in excitement.

“Cayden! Calm the fuck down.” Liam said, placing a hand on the creative traits shoulder to stop him bouncing.

Logan found it strange watching this memory from a different point of view and had to keep reminding himself that it was Caydens/Prestons memory.

“Wow, you can talk? I mean, I heard people say you were mute and so I thought they were right because you never seem to say anything and oh no I’m rambling, sorry.” Thomas said and put a hand over his face.

“Tristan! Please, you have to keep talking to him! Look he’s worried about embarrassing himself in front of you!” Cayden practically squealed before Liam physically put a hand over his mouth.

“calm down or you can go back to the mindspace. The last thing we need right now is you getting over excited and making Tristan cause a scene. Leave this to me.”

Tristan had a faint smile on his face as he listened to his traits argue and took in the sight of Thomas trying to hide behind his hand.

“Like I said, don’t worry about it. I can handle myself.” Tristan replied, still barely above a whisper but loud enough for Thomas to hear.

Thomas pulled his hand away from his face and opened his mouth to say something but suddenly the teacher walked back in.

“Mr Mallory, your father is waiting for you in the reception, he seemed to be in a hurry so let’s not keep him waiting.”

“For fuck sake! We were doing so well!” Cayden exclaimed as Thomas walked back over to his desk and Tristan began to follow hesitantly after the teacher.

Liam had a frown on his face as he started thinking out loud. “Why is He picking Tristan up so early? This is completely out of the blue. What sort of thing required him to pick Tristan up? Some sort of appointment maybe? Or a family emergency? Or it could just be an excuse for him to have access to Tristan to take his anger out on and he’s given the school some bullshit excuse about an appointment and really he’s just going to take him home and lash out and then….”

Logan had witnessed Virgil having panic attacks often enough to recognise Liam was on the edge of having one himself.

Hugh suddenly popped up in front of Liam and said “Liam, it’s me. Focus on me and my voice OK? You’re close to having a panic attack and I need you to copy my breathing. Everything you said is irrelevant in this moment and all that matters as of now is that you breathe.”

Liam fell silent as he matched his breathing with Hughs and after a short while he pulled him in for a hug.

“Thanks Hughie, you’re a lifesaver.” He muttered.

Hugh went slightly red at the nickname but replied in a calm voice “No need to thank me, you’d do the same if our positions were reversed.”

Logan felt a small smile make its way onto his face before it immediately disappeared as he reminded himself that things had obviously gone badly.

Tristan came to a stop in what appeared to be the main office and gulped slightly at the sight of his father waiting for him.

“Walk towards him slowly and try not to flinch or he’ll get pissed off and accuse you of trying to snitch.” Liam said, standing next to Tristan now with a hand hovering over his shoulder as if he were too scared to try and make contact in case he just phased through again.

“Come along Tristan, we have a special appointment to get to and we don’t want to be late do we?” Tristans father asked in what probably sounded like a pleasant voice but the glint in his eye promised violence and made Logan shudder.

Tristan followed after his father in silence, not once asking what the appointment was for because of Liam constantly telling him to stay silent.

As they climbed into the car Tristans father turned to him with a sneer. “This appointment we’re going to is a friend of mine from school who’s become a doctor. He’s going to see what he can do about you and your disgusting obsession with other boys.”

Liam inhaled sharply but continued to tell Tristan to stay quiet while Hugh told Cayden to go back to the mindspace.

Logan was caught off guard as the scene changed and he found himself in a different memory.

Tristan was standing in the bathroom at school looking at his reflection with tears in his eyes. Cayden and Liam stood either side of him and Logan was horrified at how he could actually see through them slightly.

“Please Tristan, you just need to focus back on the school work. Good grades are our ticket out of this hell. If you’ve got good grades you can get a good job and get out of His house and finally be free.” Cayden said in a soft voice as Liam sighed sadly.

Tristan closed his eyes and whispered “That’s so far away though. I’m not sure if I can make it through however many years of this. Everything seems to get worse.”

Liam spoke up, his voice almost too quiet to hear. “You can do it. Don’t do something you’ll regret.”

Tristan opened his eyes again, tears spilling down his face and choked out “That’s the thing. I don’t think I’d regret it at all.”

Cayden sniffed, tears also running down his face as he wobbled slightly. “Liam… I… I’m trying to bring up the image of the future he has to look forward to but…. I can’t. I think I’m…. I’m…”

Liam had a look of alarm on his face and he called for the others.

Hugh appeared immediately and Paxton was a few seconds later, his puffy eyes showing he’d been crying.

“You two keep an eye on Tristan, I need to get Cayden back to the mindspace before he collapses. He’s used too much energy today without enough rest and he’s starting to sway.”

Paxton gasped and pulled Cayden into a hug before letting go with a mumbled “I told you, you should listen to me next time I tell you to get some rest.”

“I’ll be… Fine…” Cayden muttered, his eyelids fluttering shut slightly.

Liam rolled his eyes and grabbed hold of Caydens arm before sinking back down to the mindspace.

Logan watched as Liam helped Cayden lay down on the couch and covered him with a blanket.

“Thanks Liam. You’re…. A good friend.” Cayden managed to get out before falling unconscious and the scene changed again.

Cayden was holding a sobbing Paxton while Hugh and Liam had a hushed discussion in the corner.

“he…. He just ignored me completely. I feel……so useless.” Paxton mumbled and Cayden rubbed his hand up and down his back.

“Hey, you’re not useless. This isn’t your fault, if anyone is to blame it’s that disgusting man who Tristan is unfortunate enough to share DNA with.”

Logan stepped away and tried to listen to what Hugh and Liam were saying but he could just hear the buzz of their voices and reasoned that as it was Caydens/Prestons memory and he couldn’t hear them then that made sense.

“But…. I could have stopped him! I should have been able to stop him!” Paxton exclaimed and Cayden pulled back to look Paxton in the eyes.

“Look at me when I say this so you know I’m telling the truth. You’re not to blame for anything. We knew things were getting worse and he was bound to start ignoring us, you were just unlucky enough to be the first to experience it.”

Paxton looked down sadly as he whispered “I can’t help but feel I’ve let you all down. Especially you Cay. You always manage to get Tristan through stuff like this.”

Cayden managed to put a small smile on his face as he said “You’ve never let me down and you never could. You’re my best friend and nothing will ever stop me loving you.”

Paxton managed a watery smile at that and hugged Cayden tightly “Thanks, you always know what to say to make me feel better.”

Liam and Hugh walked over to where the two were hugging and Hugh said “Tristan stopped eventually after I managed to get through to him by shouting for a few minutes. There’s no major damage done and he didn’t go particularly deep but we’ll need to keep an eye out for any more behaviour that could key us in to if he’s going to do it again.”

The scene changed and Logan found himself in an imagination forest that seemed smaller than the one he was used to. In a clearing he could see Cayden practising with his sword.

A familiar voice from somewhere nearby suddenly made Cayden stop.

“Cayden! Are you in here?”

“Paxton, what brings you in here?” Cayden asked.

Paxton let out a small sigh. “Tristan is ignoring me again and I can’t find Liam anywhere.”

Cayden sheathed his sword and walked closer to Paxton. “Do you want me to help you look?”

Paxton nodded. “I thought maybe he’d be watching you practice because he doesn’t seem to be anywhere in the main mindspace.”

Cayden frowned at that. “That’s unlike him. He rarely ventures too far because he knows how much we rely on him to get through to Tristan.”

Logan looked between the two, wondering where this was going.

Paxtons expression was worried as they walked through the trees and Cayden grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find him. Just take a few deep breaths and calm down.” Caydens voice was soft and comforting as he pulled Paxton in for a hug.

Paxtons face brightened up as he smiled at him. “Thanks Cayden, you always know what to say.”

Cayden smiled back and the two continued their journey out of the imagination forest.

They were walking towards the main mindspace when Cayden froze and turned to look behind him.

“What’s wrong?” Paxton asked, having turned around to see why he’d stopped.

“I thought I heard something.” Cayden murmured, his eyes scanning the mist warily.

Logans eyes looked over to the mist worriedly, wondering if there was something hiding in it but was forced to keep walking as Cayden seemed to brush it off as nothing.

As Logan followed the two traits into the mindspace, Hugh appeared in front of them looking exhausted.

“I can’t convince Tristan to do his work, he’s too busy staring into space and we don’t need another repeat of last week. I need Liam to help convince him.”

“Uh, about that…” Paxton said, trying to keep his voice level.

The uniformed trait looked from him to Cayden and took in their worried expressions. “What? What is it? Where’s Liam?” he demanded.

“We can’t find him. Paxton looked everywhere in the main mindspace but…” Cayden tried to explain but he was shoved aside by the suddenly frantic trait.

“Somethings happened to him. He would never leave the main mindspace.”

“Hugh, calm down.” Paxton tried to say but Hugh let out a small growl “You don’t get to tell me to calm down! Liam is missing and here you are having a lovely conversation with Cayden. Either help me look for him or stay out of my way!”

Hugh stormed off leaving Paxton speechless and Cayden shaking his head.

Logans mouth was dry as he realised this might be the start of what had turned Cayden into Preston and he was both scared and intrigued to see what happened next.

“I…. I didn’t mean to…” Paxton said in a quiet voice and Cayden sighed. “Don’t blame yourself, he’s just concerned for the person he loves. You know how protective of him he is. Once we find Liam he’ll be fine.”

Paxton shrugged “I guess. We should probably keep looking. The sooner we find Liam the sooner we can stop Tristan getting hurt again.”

Cayden frowned. “Hey Paxton, has Liam ever mentioned the secondary traits?” he asked and received a negative answer.

“Why do you ask?”

Cayden started to walk back out of the main mind space. “What if he went to visit them? For all we know he could be friends with one of them.”

Paxton was jogging to keep up with his pace and as they walked into the imagination forest, the air felt heavy.

“Somethings not right.” Cayden whispered drawing his sword and looking around cautiously. “Stay close Pax, just in case.”

Pax grabbed a hold of Caydens shirt, fear clear on his face as they walked deeper into the forest.

Logan was glad it was just a memory as the forest was completely devoid of any sounds and it seemed to be getting darker.

When they exited the imagination forest on the other side they let out small sighs of relief and continued towards a large grey door that lead to the area of the mind where the secondary traits lived.

They got to the door and Cayden, who had put his sword back away, was about to open it when a voice shouted.

“Cayden! Hugh! Paxton! Help me!”

Paxtons eyes were wide as he also heard the familiar shout.

The two of them immediately sprinted towards the sound of the voice, not hesitating as they ran through the misty no man’s land which Logan reluctantly followed them into.

They came to a stop as they heard Liam voice from the opposite direction than they were running and before they could head towards it his voice came from somewhere else as well.

Cayden closed his eyes and the mist started to dissipate so Logan could see in every direction with no trouble.

Liam was nowhere to be found which meant that they were being tricked.

Suddenly there was an earth shattering scream from the other side of the forest and Preston wasted no time in running towards it, Paxton not far behind.

Logan struggled to keep up with them but he somehow managed to and if it hadn’t been a memory he would have collided with Cayden who had skidded to a stop.

Logan stepped forward and froze, his stomach churning unpleasantly at the unexpected scene in front of him.

Hugh was the one screaming and the reason for that was Liam.

The ground was streaked with blood and Logan had to look away as he noticed clumps of flesh and gore scattered around as if the trait had been ripped apart by some sort of animal.

The only non mangled part of Liam was his face which wasn’t comforting at all because it probably meant the culprit wanted the body to be identifiable.

Hugh had fallen to his knees his face streaked with tears as he continued to scream, letting out all his horror and anger.

Paxton was vomiting and crying while Cayden appeared to have frozen, his dark brown eyes locked on to the red mess in front of him.

Logan felt his stomach jolt uncomfortably and had to stop himself from vomiting as his eyes passed over the scene again.

His eyes locked onto Hugh and he felt tears of his own roll down his face. He’d tried not to get too attached to the traits in front of him because he knew they’d all die in the end but he couldn’t help himself.

The scene vanished and Logan wiped his eyes as he found himself in Tristans room again where he spotted Cayden and Paxton trying to frantically get through to Tristan who was staring into space completely ignoring them.

“I… I think we need Hugh.” Paxton said tearfully and Cayden closed his eyes as he said “You’re right, but he’s not responded to us for the last week since…. It happened.”

Logan winced as he recognised what was happening. It was similar to when Virgil had been in a coma and Thomas had only seemed to acknowledge him and not the other two.

It was apparent that Tristan was suffering from the lack of Liam who Logan assumed embodied the fight or flight reflexes and helped him stay cautious and aware of his surroundings. Hugh was clearly the logical trait and probably the only other person Tristan would listen too now Liam was gone.

“We could always try and get through to him.” Paxton suggested in a quiet voice.

Cayden sighed “I don’t think….” he stopped part way through his sentence as the all too familiar sound of the front door slamming reached his ears.

“OK fine, let’s go find him, but we’ll have to be quick.” Cayden said and the two sunk down to the mindspace.

Logan found himself following Cayden through the corridors, peeking into each room just in case Hugh was in there.

“Cayden! Help! Hugh locked himself in the emotions room!” Paxton shouted and Cayden quickly dashed towards where he heard him.

“He stole the key to the emotion room and locked himself in! We need to get him out before….”

Paxtons words were cut off by a loud boom as the whole mind space shook and the lights flickered.

“Oh no. Not again.” Paxton exclaimed holding his hands over his head.

“It’s alright, I’ve got you, everything is going to be OK. You can do this.” Cayden said in a gentle voice, pulling the shaking trait into his arms and hugging him tightly.

“I….. I just don’t understand…. Even after all these years…. Why do they do this to him? They’re supposed to love him!” Paxton sobbed and Cayden had tears of his own running down his face as the mindspace shook again.

“I don’t know but one day he’ll be free of them. One day all this will just be a bad memory that we can look back at and smile about how far we’ve come. This won’t last forever, I promise.”

Paxton sobbed into Caydens shoulder as Caydens words flowed through him and as the mindspace shook again he murmured “I hope you’re right.”

Logan felt himself tearing up and wiped his face, sniffing a little.

Eventually the mindspace stopped shaking and the two traits crept over to the emotion room where Hugh had locked himself in.

“Hugh? Please come out. We need you. You’re our last hope to get through to Tristan.” Cayden said, knocking on the door.

There was no response.

Paxton tried instead “We know exactly what you’re going through, it’s difficult for all of us but we need to stick together. Now more than ever. Please come out, I…. I miss him too.”

Paxton let out a small choked sob towards the end and sniffed, trying to wipe away all the tears that kept flowing from his eyes.

There was still no response.

Logan looked at the door with a small shudder as he remembered how many things had happened with the emotion room in Thomas’s mind.

Cayden was getting slightly impatient and knocked on the door harder “Hugh! Come on out! We can’t do this on our own.”

Yet again, no response.

Cayden let out a small noise of frustration while Paxton approached the door again. Paxton suddenly froze as he put a hand on the door and turned his fear filled eyes to Cayden.

“There’s something wrong. I can’t describe it. There’s a weird sensation from behind this door.”

The worry and slight panic in Paxtons voice seemed to be enough for Cayden as he suddenly launched a hard kick at the door which broke the lock and made it swing open to reveal the pitch black emotion room.

“Hugh?” Paxton asked timidly as he peered into the darkness.

As soon as Paxtons foot was across the threshold of the door, the lights flickered on and a loud scream burst from his mouth and echoed around the room.

Hugh was laying on the floor surrounded by blood with a bloody knife in one of his hands and scrawled across the floor in his blood were the words “I give up. I’m sorry.”

“No! This can’t be happening! First Liam now Hugh?” Paxton exclaimed, sinking to his knees in despair.

Logan stared into the room with wide horrified eyes. When he heard that Hugh had given up he didn’t realise it meant like this. He thought he’d given up by convincing Tristan to walk out in front of a car, not carving open both his wrists, writing an apology in blood and then slitting his own throat.

Cayden pulled Paxton out of the room and slammed it shut again, his entire body shaking at seeing another of his friends like that.

“W…. We can’t… We can’t do this without him. Without Liam. We’re…. We’re done for!” Cayden shrieked hysterically.

Paxton and him were both sobbing and Logan felt his own eyes welling up as he witnessed their breakdowns.

After a while Paxton stopped crying and got to his feet, wiping his face. He walked over to Cayden and hugged him tightly with a murmured “We should check on Tristan.”

Cayden shook his head “We can’t do this on our….. Own.”

Paxton shut his eyes and took a deep breath to try and stop himself crying again. “We have to at least try! We can’t just…. Give up.”

Cayden let out a hysterical laugh, tears rolling down his face “Why not? It’s what Hugh did!”

Paxton sniffed and pulled back so he was looking Cayden in the eye. “I’m sorry about this but you need to snap out of it.”

Before Cayden could ask what he was on about Paxtons hand made contact with his cheek with a loud smack.

Cayden froze for a second, slowly raising a hand to his cheek where he felt the hot stinging sensation from where he’d been slapped.

“Now will you come help me check on Tristan?” Paxton asked in a timid voice.

Cayden nodded and took a deep breath as he stood up “I’m… I’m sorry. I… I…. Let’s just go check on him.”

The two joined hands and sunk down to visit Tristan.

Logan looked around and was surprised not to see Tristans room, instead he could see what appeared to be a park with a large open expanse of grass and trees.

Tristan was sitting leaning against a tree in a tucked away corner of the park where there was no one around to notice his state.

He was cradling one of his arms which was at an odd angle and there was blood all over his face and clothes.

Logan inhaled sharply as he noticed the huge tear in one of the legs of Tristans trousers. He could make out the words freak, dirty and worthless carved into Tristans thigh and was once again reminded that Preston clearly took notes on the best ways to hurt people.

“Tristan? Can you hear me?” Cayden asked hesitantly, a glimmer of hope in his eyes as Tristan turned his head in his direction.

“Is life really worth living like this?” Tristans voice was scratchy and hoarse from where he’d obviously been screaming.

“Things will…” Paxton started but Tristan cut him off.

“Don’t…. Don’t bullshit me. Is there anything in this world that’s really worth having to suffer like this? I’ve been told by you so many times that 'Things will get better’ or 'Just focus on the future’ but…. Things just keep getting worse. There’s nothing…. Absolutely nothing that I want more right now than for everything to end. All the taunts. All the injuries. All the…. All the pain. Just everything. It hurts to breathe, to even exist, and…. I can’t help but think… What if all that could just… Disappear. What if I could just fall asleep and never wake up? It’d be so peaceful. So painless. I’m…. I’m not sure why I’m holding on anymore.”

There was silence after Tristan had spoken as Paxton and Cayden struggled through their own pain and grief.

“What about…. T…Thomas Sanders? He… He’s… Isn’t he… Isn’t his singing worth getting through today? If… If you ended it today you’d never hear his voice again….” Cayden managed to get out, his voice shaky as he struggled to find the right words.

Logan could see where this was going and felt tears roll down his face for what was probably the hundredth time. It was painfully obvious that Tristan had already made up his mind and no matter what Paxton and Cayden said he wasn’t going to listen.

Tristan looked at Cayden with a distant look in his eye. “Thomas… He’s nice and friendly but… He’s just not worth going through so much pain for. If… If I knew him better… Maybe if I’d listened to you and…. Told him I liked his singing… Asked to be his friend even….. But…. He’s still just another face…. Another face among thousands who will never know or care. Every time this happens…. Every beating…. I both hope and dread it being my last. If…. If I kill myself…. I at least get to go on my own terms.”

Cayden and Paxton exchanged looks of fear but before either of them could respond they popped back in the mindspace.

“What? What just happened?” Cayden asked and Paxton tried to sink back down to see Tristan but nothing happened.

“I…. I think something is preventing us from getting through to him, like all the other times.” Paxton said in a small voice.

Cayden let out a gasp as he pointed a shaking finger down the hall where large scratches and marks were gouged into the walls and floor. “Where did they come from?”

Paxton approached one of the walls and recoiled at the horrible feeling he got. “It was caused by whatever has been keeping us from communicating with Tristan.”

Cayden gulped and muttered “Where did it go?”

Paxton started walking down the hall, followed by Cayden who’d drawn his sword.

Logan walked after them, his eyes taking in the marks on the walls as he passed. He couldn’t think of anyway they could have been caused.

They came to a stop and Logan noticed the ominous black cloud hanging over the imagination forest.

“Whatever it is, is in the forest. The least we can do is try to get rid of it.” Cayden murmured, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his blade.

Paxton nodded and started walking into the mist which had spread so it surrounded the entire forest rather than either side.

Cayden jogged to keep up with him, his eyes darting around warily as he tried to keep track of where Paxton was.

Suddenly a loud growl came from somewhere in the mist and Cayden froze, turning to look around him with his sword held up defensively.

“Cayden? I can make out the trees! Quick follow my voice!” Paxtons voice came from further ahead and Cayden broke into a run.

There was another growl, this time closer and Logan made a small yelp of fear as he thought he saw something dart through the mist.

“C'mon, you can do it!” Paxton shouted.

Cayden was running through the mist, terror and determination clear on his face.

Suddenly from the mist a dark shape collided with him sending him sprawling to the floor.

“Watch out!” screamed Paxton but Cayden was laying on his back clutching his chest, his ribs throbbing painfully.

A dark shadowy creature suddenly appeared from the mist and Cayden crawled backwards away from it as fast as he could, his sword having skidded too far away to be of help.

Logan was frozen in fear and horror as he stared at the abomination before him.

The creature was ten times bigger than any of the creatures it appeared to be an amalgamation of. It was four legged, it’s front paws being those of some sort of big cat, it’s back legs being those of what appeared to be a bear, it’s head being that of a wolf and it’s tail was thin and whip like.

The entire creature was black and shadowy, the same sort of consistency as Virgils energy which explained to Logan why Preston had been so wary around it.

The beast crouched, presumably readying itself to pounce and Cayden closed his eyes, accepting of his fate.

“Get away from him!” Paxton shouted, this time appearing from the mist and stepping in between Cayden and the shadow creature.

Cayden watched with his mouth open as Paxton grabbed the sword and lunged at the creature.

The creature didn’t even attempt to dodge and the blade just went right through it, not effecting it in any way.

“But that’s not possible! Your sword can cut down shadowy nightmare creatures, why didn’t it work?"Paxton shouted in disbelief, glancing at Cayden.

Cayden pushed himself to his feet, eyes wide in horror as the creature seemed to ripple as if it were laughing.

"I don’t understand.” Cayden whispered and the creature took a swipe at Paxton, sending him flying backwards, dropping the sword.

“No!” Cayden cried and launched himself at the monster. “Don’t hurt him!”

Cayden was pinned beneath one of the monsters enormous paws and it pushed down hard enough that his ribs started to crack, making him scream in agony.

In the background Paxton screamed “Cayden!”

Logan winced at the sound of Caydens bones cracking and watched in horror as the beast lowered its wolfish head, its large canines almost grazing Caydens skin.

“No!” Paxton yelled and pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the large slash across his chest where the claws had caught him. He stumbled as he tried to walk forward and the creature tilted its head in some sick parody of a curious puppy.

It let out a barking roar and seemed to vanish.

Paxton collapsed next to Cayden who was breathing heavily and shook him gently “Cayden? Can you hear me?”

Cayden turned his head to Paxton, his eyes wide in horror as he struggled to speak. “P….Paxton….. R…r..r..run.”

Paxton frowned “What do you mean?”

Cayden let out a small sob that jarred his broken ribs. “Run. It…. It’s…… Inside me.”

Paxton flinched back as a loud ferocious growl resonated from Caydens chest.

“Please…. Paxton….. I…. It’s taking over.” Cayden pleaded, tears falling from his eyes as he slowly began to sit up.

Paxton hesitantly backed away after struggling to his feet. “But….. I… What’s going on?”

Cayden had tears streaming down his face as his body seemed to move of its own accord “It’s taken control…..I cant stop it.”

Paxton had tears of his own running down his cheeks “Cayden there’s…. There’s nowhere to go….”

Cayden had pushed himself to his feet and was taking jerky steps towards Paxton as he tried to fight against the creature that had taken over.

“You… You have to find somewhere… Please…” Cayden said as he stopped and bent down, picking up the sword that had been knocked from Paxtons hands previously.

Paxton smiled sadly “I don’t blame you for what you’re going to do. I know you can’t stop yourself.”

“Don’t… Don’t say that!” Cayden sobbed as he took a shaky step forward and raised his sword.

Paxton sighed and stepped closer. “Stop fighting, just do it. We both know how this is going to end.”

Cayden let out a scream of denial as his hand moved forwards and the sword impaled Paxton in the stomach.

Paxton closed his eyes, whimpering in pain but he managed a smile “you promised this wouldn’t last forever and this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind but it still works.”

Paxton fell to his knees as Caydens trembling hands pulled the sword out and it clattered to the floor.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry. I tried! I tried, I tried, I tried. I failed you. I couldn’t fight it in time.” Cayden wailed dropping to his knees and cradling Paxton close to him. “It’s gone now. I don’t know where but its gone.”

Paxton slumped against Cayden with a sigh. “You could never fail me Cay. You’re my best friend and nothing will ever change that.”

Blood was gushing out of the wound on Paxtons stomach at a rapid rate, spilling onto the floor and seeping into Caydens clothes but he didn’t care. “I… I don’t want you to go.” He sobbed.

Paxtons arms were loosening their grip around Cayden as he grew weaker and he pulled one away so he could wipe Caydens tears away. “Look at me. Don’t blame yourself. I….”

Paxtons voice lowered to almost a whisper as he used his last breath to say “I still love you Cayden.”

Paxton went limp in Caydens arms and Cayden let out a howl of misery, clutching at Paxtons body and rocking back and forth.

Logan was standing shaken off to the side, tears rolling down his cheeks as he witnessed the final moments of Cayden.

The mindspace shook violently before everything began to fade, leaving Cayden clutching Paxtons body in the middle of a black void.

Eventually Paxtons body faded too and Cayden let out a screech of agony, falling onto his back gasping for breath as he was hit by the full force of what Tristan was going through. The only sound to be heard, other than Caydens shrieks was the faint beat of a heart, getting progressively slower until it stopped.

Logan found himself plunged into pitch blackness, unable to see anything around him.

There was a spine chilling growl from somewhere nearby and Logan spun around, his heard turning in every direction to try and find the source of the noise.

Suddenly Cayden appeared from the darkness, curled up in a heap on the floor and muttering under his breath.

Logan approached him cautiously and jumped as Cayden let out a scream. “It wasn’t my fault! Liam! Paxton! I’m so sorry!”

He suddenly fell silent and began clawing at himself, scratching up every bit of exposed skin as he writhed on the ground like a fish out of water.

“It wasn’t my fault! It was all Hugh! He gave up!” Cayden shouted after what seemed like hours of silence, making Logan jump again at his sudden exclamation.

The void seemed to blur slightly before coming back into focus and Logan realised that must have been a change in memory.

Cayden was no longer curled up on the floor scratching at himself. Instead he was sitting staring into space, his dark eyes dull and emotionless as he muttered “Love made them weak. I will not be weak. Cayden was weak. I am not Cayden. Cayden relied on others who let him down. I will not make the same mistakes. Cayden is dead. Dead because he loved. Dead because he cared. I don’t care. I don’t love. I am not Cayden. I am Preston.”

Logan gulped as he watched the empty dark eyes gaining a harsh coldness to them and he realised that this was no longer Cayden.

This was Preston and Logan had just witnessed the birth of a monster.


	47. The Final Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, injuries, violence, character death (whoops)

Roman cursed under his breath as he watched Logan disappear among the trees. He couldn’t just go running after him blindly, he had Virgil and Thomas to worry about.

Not to mention the fact Roman had no idea where Logan was running to and there was no way he would catch up with him now.

Roman turned to the remaining two of their little group with an annoyed sigh.

“We have to go after him!” Thomas said frantically and Virgil nodded, picking up his katana determinedly.

“We have no idea where he’s gone and I’m not risking Preston getting hold of Thomas. That would be a disaster.” Roman said, trying to take charge of the situation.

“Oh no you don’t Roman. Worrying about risks is my thing, being cautious is my thing! You don’t get to decide if something is too dangerous, that’s my job and I say it doesn’t matter how risky it might be, nothing is worse than letting Preston get hold of Patton and Logan. Both of them are important parts of Thomas and if he… If he hurts them or…k…ki… Worse…. Thomas will be just as screwed as if Preston got hold of him directly.”

Romab blinked in surprise at Virgils words before sighing. “You have a point Virgil, come on let’s go.”

Thomas, Virgil and Roman set off into the woods in the direction they saw Logan take.

After a while they paused and Roman muttered to himself “Surely we aren’t lost, I know my way round this forest so there’s no way we should be going around in circles.”

“well either Preston is messing with us or you don’t have as good a memory as you think you do.” Roman turned round, ready to give Virgil an unimpressed look only to find Thomas was the one who said it.

Before Roman could say anything Thomas inhaled sharply and put a hand to his chest, overcome with a sudden gnawing empty feeling.

“Thomas? What’s wrong?” Virgil asked and Thomas gasped out “I’m so c… Cold and empty.”

Virgils eyes widened and he exchanged a worried look with Roman, both of them having come to the same conclusion.

“Prestons starting to break Patton.”

Thomas winced as the feeling in his chest seemed to grow every couple of seconds. “What can we do to stop it?”

“We need to find Preston as quickly as possible and stop him.” Roman said with a grim expression.

He started walking in the direction he felt was most likely to be the right way and the other two followed, Thomas wincing and gasping as the ache in his chest grew and he began to shiver as he started to feel colder.

The trio didn’t seem to be getting anywhere and they came to a stop again because Roman was starting to get truly annoyed.

“This has to be Prestons doing. He must have wanted to lure Logan away from us so he allowed Logan to find him easily and then messed everything up so we couldn’t find them!”

Virgil had a frown on his face as he considered what Roman said, he wouldn’t put it past Preston to do something like that.

Thomas hunched over as he felt like ice had filled his lungs but then suddenly he felt the previous ache and feelings of emptiness get washed away by a wave of warmth.

“What just happened?” he asked, looking at the other two in shock as he stood upright again. “the cold is completely gone now.”

“maybe Logan managed to get Preston away from Patton or something?” Roman said, looking around with a frown.

“if he did then he must really love Patton. Preston was a complete monster towards him and it’s hard to think that Logan put up with that in complete silence and didn’t break worse than he did.” Virgil muttered, earning a confused look from Thomas.

“wait, what exactly did Preston do to Logan?”

There was complete silence as neither Roman nor Virgil wanted to explain just how much Logan had been through.

Thomas looked between the two expectantly before throwing his hands up in frustration.

“Damn it! Why do I never know anything that’s going on? Why is it I’m always left in the dark despite the fact that this is my mind!? I have the right to know when things happen! So one of you better start talking or so help me I’ll…”

Whatever Thomas was going to do didn’t matter as an ear-piercing scream of agony suddenly ripped through the air, cutting off Thomas and making the three of them turn in the direction it was coming from.

“That sounded like…” Roman started to say but was cut off by Virgil who exclaimed Pattons name loudly and ran towards the scream.

Roman quickly ran after Virgil, followed closely by an equally worried Thomas.

The three of them ran for a while before bursting into a clearing where the first thing they saw was Patton laying on the floor clutching his arm, his face streaked with tears.

“What happened? Are you alright?” Virgil asked, dropping to his knees next to Patton and looking him over for injuries.

Patton shook his head and managed to gasp out “Logan and Preston were wrestling over there somewhere but it went silent and I don’t know what happened.”

Thomas walked over in the direction Patton had gestured to and peered between a couple trees to see two forms unconscious on the floor.

Thomas bent down to try and roll them over or try to wake them but Roman grabbed his wrist and gently tugged him away.

“There’s no knowing what might happen if you make contact with Preston and even if you were about to touch Logan there’s not much you can do to wake him up.”

Thomas frowned but allowed Roman to pull him to a safe distance.

Virgil became aware that he didn’t have a clue how to help Patton so he got to his feet and peered over at Preston and Logan.

“How long do you think it’ll take for them to regain consciousness?” Thomas asked and Virgil shrugged.

“I don’t know but it’d be better if Logan woke up first so we could end this the easy way by getting Preston while he’s unconscious.”

“Virgil!”

“What? He’d do the same to us and you know it! It’s the easiest and safest way to get rid of him!”

Roman had a deep set frown on his face as he muttered “Just because that’s what he would do doesn’t mean you should do it too. We shouldn’t stoop to his level, we have honour.”

Virgil scowled and crossed his arms as he broke eye contact with Roman. “Fine but you show me what use that honour is when he wakes up and kills one of us.”

Roman sighed and shook his head. “he’s not going to kill anyone. I won’t let him.”

A whimpering sound came from the two unconscious forms on the floor and they both started twitching in a nearly identical way.

“What do you think is happening?” Thomas asked, watching the twitching in alarm.

Suddenly Preston sat bolt upright, his eyelids still shut but twitching. Logans hands were still clamped tightly onto his upper arms so they were both sitting up.

Finally Prestons eyes shot open, for a brief moment they were completely black before they went to their usual dark brown and he let out a noise of shock and anger.

“What the fuck?!” he exclaimed and pushed himself to his feet, dragging Logan up with him.

Logans eyes opened blearily and his entire body was limp with exhaustion as he continued to cling to Preston. He now knew exactly what had happened but he didn’t have much energy left to tell the others let alone do anything himself.

Preston noticed Logans grip and immediately grabbed him by the arm, pulling him in front like a meat shield.

“Let him go.” Roman muttered drawing his sword while Virgil brandished his own with a glare.

Preston sneered “Why would I ever do that? I am unarmed, facing two armed opponents. It would be stupid to let go of the one thing standing in the way.”

Roman frowned. Prestons argument was logical and he had to agree. Roman would prefer not harming an unarmed person as that seemed very unfair but he guessed he would make an exception for Preston seeing as the being before him had proven time and time again that he didn’t need a blade or weapon to harm people.

Virgil was furious and the only thing keeping him from lunging at Preston was the half conscious form of Logan.

The last thing Virgil wanted to do was add more pain and suffering to the logical trait.

Thomas had backed up to the edge of the clearing as soon as Preston had woken up and both he and Patton sat watching in fear of what would happen.

Preston eyed both Roman and Virgil, a calculating look crossing his face which then morphed into a grin. “Alright, you want the nerd back? Have him.”

Preston suddenly shoved Logan towards Virgil who stumbled slightly as he caught him.

Preston made a dash towards where his sword lay and managed to pick it up. He smirked as he saw the realisation flash across Romans face. He’d been played.

Roman was angry both with Preston and himself. He’d hesitated at attacking for a few seconds due to Preston unarmed state and now he was armed and dangerous again.

He hadn’t exactly walked away from their last encounter unscathed either so an all out fight didn’t seem the best approach.

Virgil managed to position Logan behind him and then turned back to Preston, his eyes blazing with rage and his jaw clenched as he stepped forward.

It all happened quite quickly. Virgil lunged with the sword and Preston quickly deflected it, spinning and sending a kick at Roman who was a little to slow to doge it and stumbled.

Preston then ducked a slash from Virgil and swiped with his sword at their legs.

“You can’t best me, I’m a master swordsman.” Preston boasted with a smug smile, causing Virgil to let out a growl of annoyance.

Roman took a deep breath and started pushing forward, swiping his sword through the air from left to right in rapid succession forcing Preston to step back and dodge the blade.

Virgil stayed back not wanting to get in the way of Roman. Instead he tried to think of some other way to get at Preston. Maybe he could figure out a way to disarm or distract Preston long enough for Roman to stab him?

Virgil frowned. That hadn’t worked the first time though according to what he knew. Patton stabbed Preston right at the beginning of all this and Preston had survived. Why was that?

Virgil ran over to where Patton and Thomas were, hoping Roman could keep Preston busy as he asked Patton some questions about Prestons rebirth.

Preston dodged attack after attack, laughing slightly as he saw Roman becoming more and more frustrated at not landing any.

“Come on Roman, I’m sure you can do better than that. You’re trying to kill me remember? Or maybe you’re just not very skilled at using your sword or fighting.” Preston taunted.

Roman let out a snarl and suddenly began to attack faster, his anger taking over.

Preston managed to dodge a few but wasn’t able to move quick enough to move fully out the way as Romans sword swung at head height and caught him right across the cheek, leaving a long thin cut.

Preston hissed in pain and put a hand to his cheek, a large happy smile coming to his face when he realised he was bleeding.

“There’s the angry Prince I know. Come on, remember, if you don’t kill me I’ll kill everyone you care about.”

Roman kept attacking, his anger fuelling his movements as he attacked with everything he had. He couldn’t let Preston win. He had to end him and this whole thing now.

Preston laughed as he practically danced out of the way of Romans attacks. He knew from experience that anger tended to make people sloppy and more likely to make a mistake and that’s exactly what happened.

Roman spun and tried to slash at him but left his side exposed meaning all Preston had to do was slash across and Roman crumpled.

The high sound of Romans scream echoed through the trees and Preston just about managed to let out a short cackle before a black clad ball of fury with a sword suddenly charged at him.

Preston immediately found himself locked into a fierce battle with Virgil who was clearly not at all hesitant with his desire to kill.

Thomas watched from the side-lines, horrified at the sight of Roman laying in a slowly growing pool of blood.

He glanced at Preston and Virgil who were battling intensely before making a dash towards Roman, ignoring Patton who hissed his name in alarm.

He made it to Romans side and quickly put pressure on the wound. “Roman, what can I do to help?” He asked frantically.

Roman groaned “Thomas… You need to get back to safety. There’s no telling what he’ll do if he gets hold of you.”

Thomas ignored him and looked around, trying to find something to help him stop the bleeding. He was in the middle of a clearing though so there was nothing around, causing him to feel useless as he couldn’t stop the bleeding.

“Thom… Thomas… Let me… Let me help.” A voice rasped from somewhere and Thomas turned to see Logan crawling towards them.

“Logan no! You’re exhausted as it is, don’t!” Roman said but Logan ignored him and put one hand on the wound and then the other on Romans forehead.

Thomas watched in confusion as both sides closed their eyes, their faces scrunched up and jaws clenched.

The wound stopped bleeding as heavily so now it was merely a scratch but Romans outfit was still bloodstained and ripped.

Logan let out a small sigh and slumped sideways as he lifted his hands from Roman who still had his eyes closed.

Thomas crawled towards Logan and lifted him with shaking hands. He could feel the very faint thump of Logans pulse and his eyelids flickered slightly but he made no movement that indicated that he was aware of his surroundings.

Thomas started to drag Logan back to where Patton was but froze in horror as he watched Virgils katana suddenly stab into a tree trunk, leaving the anxious side unarmed.

Virgil glared at Preston who was smirking back, twirling his sword in his hand like a baton, clearly showing off and enjoying playing with Virgil.

“That was fun, but like I said, you can’t best me in a fight like that. Don’t feel too bad though, you never were going to win.”

Virgil clenched his hands into fists and growled “You won’t win. Even if there was a possibility that you managed to kill Thomas, you can be damn fucking sure we’ll take you down with us.”

Preston let out a laugh. “Really? Well I look forward to seeing that, I really do, however, you’re currently unarmed.”

Preston stopped twirling his sword and took a step towards Virgil who stepped back, his eyes darting around for possible solutions and/or escape routes.

Roman opened his eyes, tears running down his face as he came to terms with everything that had just flashed through his mind. He looked over at Preston and now he knew exactly what had happened he couldn’t help but feel pity.

Roman looked over at Logan and made a mental note to shout at him later for using up all his energy, even if it was to heal him and give him important information.

Roman pushed himself to his feet and called out “Hey Preston, why don’t you let Cayden out to play?”

Preston turned to Roman his eyes wide in horror which was definitely odd considering he usually had a smug smirk or cruel grin on his face.

Roman smiled “Cayden loved Mulan didn’t he? I can sing some for you if you want or maybe Thomas can. How about Reflection?”

Prestons eyes narrowed in apparent anger but Roman caught the flash of pain in them.

“You are walking a dangerous path.” Preston hissed, his eyes darting from Virgil to Roman.

Roman had picked up his katana but made no move to raise it. He was still hoping he could do this all with words.

“Why is my reflection someone I don’t know  
Somehow I cannot hide  
Who I am  
Though I’ve tried  
When will my reflection show who I am inside”

Roman burst out into song and the effect was instantaneous.

“No! Stop it!” Preston cried out, trying to keep a fierce expression on his face but his eyes were welling up with tears as memory after memory began to assault him.

Virgil had managed to get to a safe distance and was watching in surprise, caught off guard by Prestons reaction.

Preston seemed to fight off the memories for long enough because he used his ability to fling Virgils katana out of the tree and towards Roman who immediately stopped singing so he could dodge the blade.

“I’ll kill you first for that little trick!” Preston snarled and started stomping towards Roman who teleported before Prestons sword could make contact.

Roman quickly pulled his phone out and sent a text to all of the others before raising his sword just in time to block Prestons blow.

“What’s the matter Preston? Not a big Disney fan?” Roman asked with a grin.

Preston just snarled and launched a kick at Roman who managed to dodge.

Virgil frowned at the text, his eyes darting from his phone to the fight. He looked over at the others and saw Thomas and Patton looking just as confused. He felt the urge to hit Roman round the head and call him an idiot but then again Roman had nearly brought Preston to tears with the song from Mulan so maybe he knew something they didn’t?

Virgil sighed and muttered “He owes me for this.” he quickly sunk down and was back before anyone noticed he’d gone.

He sighed and began climbing up a nearby tree until he reached a sturdy enough branch.

Using a bunch of stuff he’d found he managed to secure a pretty heavy duty cd player to the branch. He turned the volume up on full and quickly skipped to the right song which he then put on repeat.

He quickly shimmied down the tree, his feet landing on solid ground before the music had reached anyone’s ears.

Virgil nodded to Roman who teleported nearer to the tree just as the first lyrics to The Light Behind Your Eyes started to play.

Preston froze, his eyes flashing with pain again as the familiar song registered.

“N… No!” He gasped, stumbling slightly, his hands trembling.

Roman began softly singing along, knowing the words quite well from his memory and the fact he’d listened to it while trapped in his room.

Preston stood taking gasping breaths and one hand on his head as the song washed over him, accompanied by Romans voice which was pretty exact to Thomas’s.

Roman sent a glance over at Thomas who seemed to remember the song and when Roman nodded Thomas joined in with the next verse, making Preston scream out in anger and pain.

His hands were shaking and his breaths were coming out in pants.

Virgil watched and rolled his eyes as Roman gestured for him to join in but took his chance to immediately belt out the lyrics when the beat really kicked in.

Prestons knees buckled, the memories he’d worked so hard to keep locked away suddenly spilling over and overwhelming him.

His whole body shook with grief as memory after memory of his friends faces flashed before his eyes.

Their smiles. Their laughter. Their tears. Their fear. Their bloody corpses.

Everything was crashing down on him and he let out an agonised scream, pain radiating through his body.

Virgils voice cut off as he watched the same grey that effected him starting to creep up Prestons arms and neck.

Preston had his hands clenched into fists in the floor, his sword still held tightly in one hand as he sobbed.

Roman had a look of relief on his face as he slowly approached Preston, his sword in his hand just in case.

“Cayden?” Roman asked in a gentle voice and Preston let out a cry.

“No! That’s not me anymore! I’m… I’m not Cayden! I…. They… They all died and I didn’t do anything to help! I… I failed them! No, Cayden failed them! Cayden is dead! He failed so he died! I’m…. I’m Preston! It wasn’t my fault! It was Cayden fault! He…. He stabbed… He…”

Preston started sobbing harder, his words difficult to understand.

Virgil was still frozen in place, his eyes wide in panic as he watched the grey spreading at an alarming rate. He was terrified to see what would happen once the grey spread across all of Prestons body because he knew that would probably be his fate.

Roman stood by Preston and frowned. He didn’t think he could bring himself to stab someone so broken like this. And Preston or Cayden, whichever he identified as at the moment, was clearly broken.

Roman thought it over and reasoned that ending Cayden/Preston would probably be a mercy at this point. He was clearly insane and in absolute agony.

While Roman deliberated Preston had closed his eyes and started to try and push the memories back again. He couldn’t quite build up another wall or anything to keep them out but he did manage to clear his mind a little.

With a slightly clearer mind Preston managed to get a strategy in place.

He pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the way his legs shook, and threw his sword at the cd player which instantly shattered.

Virgil let out a loud growl of anger at his cd player being smashed, especially with an MCR cd in it.

Roman raised his sword and swung it at Preston who used his ability and managed to block it with his own sword just in time.

“I’ll give you props that was certainly a good idea. Rather cruel but effective. You almost had me.” Preston said, a deranged grin on his tear streaked face which was steadily becoming grey.

Roman had one last idea and quickly shapeshifted into Paxton, using the fact he already had a similar injury to the one Paxton had had to his advantage.

“Cayden?” he asked, his voice soft.

Roman knew this was probably one of the cruellest things he could do but it was either this or Preston would kill them all.

Prestons eyes were wide and even though part of him knew this was just Roman, a larger part of him was desperate to believe this was truly Paxton.

“Cayden? Can you hear me?” Roman said, echoing the words Paxton had said during some of his final moments.

Preston stepped back, inhaling sharply as the memory tried to take over.

The grey had now spread across Prestons face, making his deranged eyes appear more frightening.

“P… Paxton…” Preston muttered, his eyes locked with Romans. “Paxton… Paxton is dead!”

Roman stepped back as a look of rage crossed Prestons face and managed to block his anger fuelled blows. However Roman couldn’t do more than continue to block as there was no opening for him to land any of his own blows.

The extent of Prestons anger was causing an actual heat to radiate off of him and as his sword continued to swish past Romans face it became clear to Roman that he’d made a grave mistake in trying to provoke him with his past.

Roman dropped the appearance of Paxton, trying to focus his energy on fighting Preston but it didn’t make a difference.

After 30 seconds of blocking, dodging and backing away Roman found himself at the edge of the clearing with a tree directly behind him so there was no where else to retreat to.

Roman slashed forward with his sword, trying to force Preston back but each one was blocked and Preston lunged forwards mercilessly driving his own sword forward.

Roman let out a cry of pain as the blade pierced his abdomen, right below his belly button.

Roman bent over in agony and slumped to the floor as Preston removed the blade and held the now bloody sword in a threatening manner above Romans form.

Prestons eyes darted around to the others, a deranged half smile half sneer on his face as he said “Anyone makes a move and I’ll make a mess.”

There was a moment of tense silence as Preston made eye contact with the three still conscious people and then the temperature seemed to plummet as a wide unnerving grin spread across his face.

Preston crouched next to Roman, keeping one eye on the others as he grabbed the injured trait by the hair and forced his head back so he could hold the sword to his throat.

“for your little stunt you will die last, watching helplessly as I destroy your friends one by one.”

Prestons harsh whisper made Roman flinch and if he could have he would have stood up or attempted to shove Preston away but the injury he’d sustained prevented him from being able to do so.

Preston stood up, a gleam in his eyes as he looked around for his next target. Eventually his eyes settled on Patton who was sitting over by a cluster of trees.

Without hesitation Preston stalked towards Patton who scrambled to get to his feet with wide eyes and a wince as he jolted his broken arm.

Before Preston could take more than two steps he sensed something being thrown at him and instinctively ducked, just in time to dodge the swing Virgil made at him.

In response Preston swung with the still bloody sword and grinned as he felt it connect.

Virgil let out a shriek of pain and backed away, a hand clutching one of his shoulders.

Preston barely spared Virgil a glance before continuing his path towards Patton who had just managed to get to his feet.

Wide eyed in fear Patton hurriedly tried to back away, stumbling slightly over a tree root.

Preston was about an arms length away when a voice suddenly shouted “Hey! Leave him alone!”

Preston paused and looked to the side to see Thomas glaring at him, a small dagger in one of his hands.

“Thomas! What are you doing?”

Suddenly there was a blur of movement as Virgil rushed forwards to try and pull Thomas away.

“Get off of me Virgil, I can’t just watch as he hurts you all!” Thomas exclaimed, struggling as Virgil tugged him back a few steps.

While Preston was watching their interaction with an eyebrow raised in amusement Patton had remembered the dagger Roman had given him.

He quietly slipped it out of his pocket and collected himself with a few breaths before throwing it directly at Preston.

A whooshing sound caught Prestons attention and he turned just in time to see a dagger flying towards him.

His eyes widened in surprise as the dagger hit its mark and he took a step back from the force of the impact, a small gasp of pain leaving his lips.

He reached up to grab the handle of the dagger where it protruded from just underneath his right collarbone and pulled it out with a hiss, sending blood splattering to the ground.

“You really shouldn’t have done that.” he growled and quicker than anyone expected he lunged forwards with his sword and the dagger.

Patton didn’t have time to dodge as the two blades were thrust towards him and he found his own dagger being embedded in his abdomen while the sword barely missed.

“No!” Thomas shouted and used all his strength to shove Virgil away from him.

Preston smirked as he twisted the dagger, relishing in the cry of pain that came from Pattons mouth as he pushed it deeper.

Thomas ran towards Preston, dagger in hand and his mind full of anger as he watched Patton crumple to the floor after Preston pulled the dagger out of his abdomen.

Prestons smug smirk disappeared as something sharp plunged into his side and he was tackled to the floor, landing heavily on the hard dirt.

Heavy blows suddenly began raining down on Preston who was too stunned to be able to do anything for a few seconds.

It was only when the weight was removed that he realised what had happened.

He sat up and looked at Thomas who was panting and red in the face, his fists clenched and covered in blood from where they’d impacted.

The expression on Thomas’s face let Preston know that if Virgil wasn’t holding him back he would still be laying into him.

Raising a hand to wipe some blood from his face Preston got to his feet, his eyes locked onto Thomas with an animalistic glint.

“What’s wrong Tommy boy? Do I make you angry? Do I make you want to hurt and kill me?” Preston taunted.

Thomas let out a small growl as he strained against Virgils hold, just itching to hit Preston again to try and rid him of his smug superior attitude.

Virgil was using all his strength to hold Thomas back from Preston, already worried about how the brief amount of contact might have effected him.

He glanced around at the others, his worry mounting as he realised he was the only one standing and capable of fighting.

Roman was slumped against a tree, wounded and bleeding, Logan was unconscious on the floor from exhaustion and Patton was now on the floor in a slowly growing pool of blood.

Virgil was conflicted, he wanted to end Preston but he needed to keep Thomas safe which he couldn’t do if he was fighting Preston.

Now fully understanding just how bad things were, Virgils anxiety began to grow as he struggled to think of a way to act that would help protect Thomas while also fighting Preston.

His increasing anxiety caused a familiar black smoke to begin forming, licking up his back and swirling around his legs.

The energy started to come from Virgils hands and Thomas suddenly let out a small cry as if he’d been burnt.

Virgils eyes widened in horror and he let go of Thomas immediately, alarmed that he’d hurt him.

Preston chuckled and turned back to Patton who was still on the floor, his chest rising and falling at a slightly unsteady rate as the pool of blood around him expanded.

Virgils panic increased as he noticed where Prestons attention was now focused and he shot a quick look at Thomas who was rubbing his arm.

He clenched his fists, grit his teeth and took a deep breath before launching himself at Preston in a last ditch effort to protect Thomas and the others.

Preston was once again tackled to the floor, this time by Virgil who’s eyes were blazing with anger and determination.

Preston let out a growl as he fought back against the side on top of him, annoyed about not being able to finish at least one of the sides off for good yet.

Thomas watched from the side-lines as the two fought, a tangle of arms and legs as they growled and swore at each other.

He looked around and tried to figure out what the best thing for him to do was.

Both Roman and Patton were bleeding out and he couldn’t see a way to heal them, it wasn’t as if he had… Wait a second.

Thomas’s eyes locked onto Logans unconscious form as the thought of healing powers crossed his mind.

He dashed forward and dropped to his knees next to the logical side, shaking him and patting him on the face to try and rouse him.

Preston managed to get a lucky hit on the shoulder he’d already struck with his sword, thus freeing himself from Virgil who recoiled in pain.

Preston made use of this and both his hands found Virgils throat, his thumbs digging into the anxious sides windpipe while he used his knees to keep Virgil from wriggling free.

Virgils hands scratched uselessly against the back of Prestons and his vision started to blur.

Preston shifted his knees and Virgil felt something solid pressing into his stomach where his pockets were.

Reaching a hand into the pocket his fingers closed around the knife he’d pocketed what seemed like forever ago.

His arms were growing heavier as lack of oxygen kicked in so it was with great difficulty that he steadied his hand and plunged the knife upwards.

Thomas gave up all attempts at being gentle as he started to panic slightly and slapped Logan across the face, successfully causing the sides eyes to shoot open.

“Thomas? What… What’s going on?” Logan rasped, blinking blearily.

Before Thomas could respond there was a loud exclamation of shock and pain and as the two turned to look for the source they witnessed Preston falling backwards off of Virgil, a knife sticking out of his chest and a growing patch of crimson soaking into his shirt.

Virgil was gasping for breath and massaging his throat, his eyes locked onto Preston warily.

Preston knelt there looking down at the blade protruding from his chest, recognising it as one of his own.

“Naughty Virgil, has no one taught you it’s wrong to take things that aren’t yours?” he said while standing up, his voice sounding strained as a small trickle of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.

Virgil pushed himself to his feet, still trying to get his breath back but positioning himself into a protective stance in front of the others.

As the two stared each other down Thomas helped Logan over to Patton to try to at least staunch the bleeding and by ‘helped’ Thomas pretty much dragged the logical side across the clearing.

Neither Preston nor Virgil paid any mind to the movements of the others as they were too focused on each other, a knowing smirk on one face while the other was drawn into a scowl of hatred.

“You won’t walk away from this. Even if you kill me, you can be damned fucking sure that I’ll take you down with me.” Virgil growled, his teeth clenched just as tightly as his hands which were shaking slightly.

Preston chuckled and coughed up a bit of blood. “You’re determination and confidence is admirable but you’re quite clearly ignorant of the situation you’re in.”

Virgil narrowed his eyes, not sure what he was referring to.

Preston looked down at the knife and laughed again before grabbing the handle with both hands and pulling it free, gasping and hissing in pain.

“What the…?” Virgil started but was cut off as the dagger was thrown at him and he had to dodge.

Preston laughed, blood bubbling up out of his mouth as the red began to spread across his front at a more rapid pace.

While the two had been focused on each other Logan had managed to stop Patton bleeding as heavily but due to his exhausted state he hadn’t been able to heal up the wound completely, thus Thomas was told to keep pressure on it while Logan attempted to get to Roman.

Logan crawled as fast as he could over to Roman who’s bleeding wasn’t as heavy as Pattons but was still pretty bad and due to the placement of his wound he could hardly move without experiencing agonising pain.

Logan was starting to try and heal up Roman when the sound of a body hitting the dirt caught his attention.

Looking round he was stunned to see Preston on his hands and knees, blood splattering the dirt from where it leaked from his mouth and chest.

A small jolt of hope and relief hit him but was immediately squashed as Preston seemed to be laughing, almost as if he knew something they didn’t.

Prestons laughter was getting louder, causing those present to shudder slightly but then it cut off as the blood now flowing from Preston mouth cut him off and it came out in gurgles.

An enormous grin curled across Prestons blood stained face but after a few seconds the blood was no longer there and Preston pushed himself up onto his knees, seemingly not affected by what had just happened.

“This was quite fun, playing all these games but now it’s getting boring. It’s becoming repetitive and predictable and I grow tired of it. You’ve had your fun, now it’s my turn.” Prestons eyes were pitch black and his voice came out in a deep growl.

Then in a split second his eyes were back to the same dark brown as before.

“No, I can do this, please I….” Preston seemed to be pleading but his sentence was cut off by a choking gasp as his skin began to break apart, the grey flaky texture meaning it fell off like pastry.

“Wait! No!” Preston yelled, his eyes wide in terror before a loud ear piercing shriek of agony burst from his mouth, echoing around the clearing and reverberating off the trees.

Virgil had fallen back in horror, his gaze fixated on where Preston was literally falling apart while his anxious energy began to grow at the thought of that possibly happening to him.

Logan and Roman exchanged worried looks and Logan once again began focusing on healing the creative side.

Thomas still had his hands over Pattons wound so when the screaming had began he had been unable to cover his ears like Patton had. Instead his face was scrunched up into a grimace and he was gritting his teeth as he tried to tune it out.

Prestons scream continued as the parts falling from his body began to get bigger so now whole chunks were just sloughing off like the most crumbly pastry ever.

Virgils heart was pounding as he watched, his energy swirling around him violently as he struggled to keep calm.

A massive chunk on Prestons face slid off and hit the floor, leaving a gaping crater where his jaw should be that more closely resembled a void of pitch black.

Cracks ran across the rest of Prestons face and as the remainder of it began to fall to the floor, the long agonised scream began to alter to an eerie howl.

Where the form of Preston had knelt there was now an abomination of nightmarish proportions, comprised of a shadowy substance that flickered like flames.

Virgil froze, his mind unable to properly comprehend what was before him.

The creature stopped it’s howl and gazed down at Virgil with what could only be described as the equivalent of a grin on its wolfish face.

Logan just about managed to heal up the worst of Romans wound, both of them with the same horrified expression as they recognised the thing that had come from Preston.

Roman winced as he pushed himself to his feet, his abdomen protesting at the movement but he had other things to focus on.

Logan also stood up, his legs shaking as he tried to push his exhaustion away. He couldn’t afford to pass out when this thing was present.

Virgil took a step back as the thing stepped forward, a growl rumbling from its large form.

For a split second everything seemed to stop and then just like the calm before a storm it all went to hell.

The creature swished its whip like tail and crouched ready to pounce, a loud growl coming from it.

Virgil quickly darted out of the way, mostly relying on instinct as he panicked about what was going on.

The shadowy form leaped forwards, teeth bared and claws ready to strike but it just missed

Roman began searching for his sword as quickly as he could manage while Logan stumbled over to Patton and Thomas who were both pale and shaking at the horror in front of them.

Without a word Logan started to once again try and heal Patton, hoping he could fully stop the wound bleeding before the monster noticed what an easy target the three of them were.

Virgil seemed to have noticed that at the same time the creature had because as it let out a small snort of amusement and began to prepare itself to pounce, Virgil unleashed his energy which knocked it slightly off balance.

It hadn’t seemed to have done much but it did what he’d wanted and got its attention off of the three crouched.

The only issue now was that it was looking at him instead.

He quickly turned and darted towards the trees, just barely dodging a swipe from its enormous paw.

He probably would have kept running in attempt to buy time for the others to get their strength back but that didn’t happen.

Instead a loud shout of “Hey! Fuck face! Didn’t anyone tell you that the Prince always slays the monster?!” drew everyone’s attention, including the creature who spun on the spot.

Roman had a cocky grin on his face that seemed tired and worn but nevertheless he stood there with his teeth and sword gleaming, challenging the creature to try and fight him.

The creature tilted its head as it considered him before a large chuckle like growl rumbled from its chest and it turned its full focus onto him.

Roman didn’t dare take his eyes off it as he got into a prepared stance with his sword.

The creature launched itself at Roman who swiped with his sword half heartedly as he quickly stepped out of the way.

As he expected the blade passed through harmlessly and panic started to grip him but he shoved it down.

He couldn’t afford to panic now, he needed to think of something quickly to protect everyone.

The creature’s lips were pulled up in a taunting grin as it turned to look at him and swiped a paw at Roman too fast for him to dodge.

He let out a grunt of pain as he was half thrown to the floor, blood starting to seep from the slash marks left by the creatures claws.

The creature seemed to deem him as not a threat as it turned once again to Thomas, Patton and Logan who had been slowly trying to sneak further back between the trees.

A burst of energy suddenly hit the creature and Virgils voice echoed through the clearing, deep and terrifying.

“Stay away from them!”

The creature let out a frustrated growl and shook off the energy that was curling around it, it’s eyes locking onto where Virgil stood.

It snarled and quickly sprang towards him with its mouth open ready to tear into him.

Before it could make contact it came to a stop, it’s jaws slamming shut on nothing and a slight surprised yelp coming from it.

Virgils eyes widened as he spotted Roman standing behind the creature, its long tail wound around his hands as he pulled it backwards.

The creatures momentary shock was swiftly replaced by a murderous rage and it spun quickly, attempting to get at Roman.

Roman darted out of the way, hands still on the tail, a grin on his face as the thing slightly reminded him of a dog trying to catch it’s tail.

The creature swished it’s tail and Roman braced himself as his feet left the ground.

Before the creature could react, Roman landed on it’s back, immediately grabbing hold and kicking with his heels to try and hurt the thing.

The creature made a sharp barking sound as Romans heels connected and started shaking and bucking to try and get him off.

Roman grit his teeth, a determined expression on his face as he began pulling himself closer to the things head.

Virgil watched the two, momentarily frozen in place but jolted back to his senses and ran towards where Thomas and the others were.

Randomly, as Roman slowly scaled the creature, he was reminded of the scene in The Jungle Book where Baloo had hold of Shere Khans tail.

He shook his head at the bizarre thought and managed to get to the beasts shoulders just as it seemed to get an idea.

A snarl of annoyance was all the warning Roman got before the thing ran and jumped in an attempt to knock him off with low hanging tree branches.

Roman grit his teeth as he felt sharp branches and twigs jabbing into him but managed to hold on, slowly inching his way closer to it’s neck.

A loud roar of frustration rumbled beneath Roman and he took a deep breath before lunging the rest of the way, his arms wrapping round the creatures thick neck.

It was like someone had turned the difficulty up on a mechanical bull, the shadowy form immediately began to shake and throw itself around, a constant stream of nightmarish noises emanating from its mouth.

Roman started squeezing his arms like he was giving the thing a bear hug, his legs barely able to maintain their grip.

The thing started to become more frantic in it’s attempts to get rid of Roman, colliding with tree trunks and eventually slamming onto the floor in an attempt to get him to release the grip he had with his legs.

The creature was throwing him around like a rag doll but it also seemed to be slowly weakening as it’s movements became more sluggish and the growls started to sound raspy and strangled from where Romans grip was still around its neck.

It huffed and snarled before slamming itself into the ground, making Roman cry out in pain as his leg impacted at full force with a startling cracking sound and the creatures weight pressing down on it.

Roman was now partially pinned by the creatures weight and he could feel his own strength beginning to fade as the pain from his various injuries started to make themselves known in earnest and it felt like someone was trying to rip him in half.

Maintaining the grip on the things neck became the only thing he could focus on, he didn’t dare let his attention wander in case it was all the creature needed to escape his grasp and begin its rampage all over again.

He closed his eyes and screwed up his face in pure concentration as he kept his iron hold, ignoring the immense pain pulsing through his abdomen from where his previous wound had been torn wide open again and ignoring the small voice in the back of his mind that was telling him he probably wasn’t going to make it.

He didn’t care at the moment, he just needed to protect the ones he loved, his own fate be damned.

the shadowy horror let out a pained whine as it’s breaths became more laboured and it’s form seemed to flicker.

After a tense few moments it’s struggles stilled and a loud rattling breath signalled they’d finally overcome the monster.

silence enveloped the clearing as the creatures body dissipated, leaving a small amount of ash behind and Roman who lay on his side, his breathing ragged and his white outfit stained various shades of red from his multitude of injuries.

“Roman!”

Virgil sprinted to Romans side, gently pulling him into his lap as he surveyed the damage with worry written across his face at the sight of what looked like fresh blood. “Hey, can you hear me? Roman?”

after a few gasping breaths Roman opened his eyes and a small half hearted grin came to his lips. “Hey beautiful, come here often?”

Virgil let out a hysterical laugh at the attempted joke, shaking his head. “Of course that’s your first response after all this. right, I’m going to sit you up and then we’re going to try and help you to your feet and…”

Virgils voice cut off as Roman shook his head, tears running down his cheeks.

“What? what is it?”

Roman closed his eyes at the worry and panic in Virgils voice, dreading what he knew he had to say.

“I’m sorry Virge, I should have listened to you earlier instead of worrying about doing the honourable thing. I guess it’s only fitting that I pay the price for it as it was my own mistake…”

Virgils eyes widened in horror as he realised what Roman was angling at. “No, no no no no no, don’t speak like that, everything’s going to be fine, we’ll get you healed and get you to a bed to rest and…”

Roman raised a hand and shakily cupped Virgils cheek with a sad smile. “We both know that’s bullshit. you’re never one to sugar coat stuff so please don’t start now. I’m in a right state and it’s miraculous I’m hanging on right now as it is. Take care of everyone for me…”

Virgil was full on crying now as he held Roman in a tight hug, battling the denial of what was going on.

“what’s going on? He’s speaking like he’s saying goodbye.”

Virgil sniffed and glanced to his side where Thomas had just knelt down.

“that’s because I am. I’m sorry for all the stress and pain I ever caused any of you and I’m sorry for any I might cause by leaving but all that matters to me is that I saved you. As long as you’re safe I don’t care what happens to me.”

“please don’t go, I need you..” Virgil sobbed, ignoring the comforting hand Thomas had placed on his shoulder.

Roman looked up at Virgil and gave him his best smile, despite the pain. “I love you Virgil. I have for a while and I always will. I wish we had more time together but as you yourself like to say, life’s not fair. please take care of everyone for me, I’m going to miss you all so much.”

Patton and Logan had managed to make their way to them now and Romans voice started to tremble.

“You guys are finally free of him, or it or whatever the fuck that thing was and I’m glad I was able to do this for you all before succumbing to this.”

The four faces around him began to blur as Roman felt his strength leaving him and his eyelids began to flicker shut, his breathing stuttering out as he managed one final sentence.

“I’m sorry to put you through this again Virge… look after each other… please… for me…”

Romans form went limp in Virgils arms and the side in question let out a howl of anguish and despair as he lost yet another person he loved.

Thomas buried his face into Virgils shoulder while Logan and Patton held each other, each of them crying and mourning the loss of their brave friend.

After several moments Virgil let out a small whispered goodbye and the body began to fade, seeming to take part of him with it. With nothing to cling to he fell face first into the dirt and remained there while he sobbed.

Thomas glanced up at the other two and saw their matching grief stricken expressions, the very same one probably on his own face.

“w… we need to t… try and fix things.”

The stuttered sentence was enough to spark some sort of response from Virgil who pushed himself up from the floor and glared, his face caked in mud and tears.

“There is no fixing this.” He growled through gritted teeth and his energy whirled around him violently until he was blocked from view and then it dissipated leaving the spot he had been completely empty.

An awkward tense silence fell as the three exchanged looks of worry and uncertainty. There was no telling how things would go now. There was definitely no way they’d ever get things back to how they were, the best they could do now would be to just survive and endure it a day at a time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: And so ends the story of how Thomas and the sides battled to escape The Grip Of Depression also known as Preston. I’m sure there will be many people who aren’t happy about how it ended and all I’ll say to that is…watch this space ;)


End file.
